


Familial Bonds: Sequel To The Purloined Prince

by MistakenAngel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Loving Marriage, Wizarding Politics (Harry Potter), Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:16:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 36,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29737908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistakenAngel/pseuds/MistakenAngel
Summary: As Hermione Granger's fifth year at Hogwarts approaches, Sebastian Prince, her fiance, faces his graduation from Hogwarts to be apprenticed to his father Severus Snape. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic seeks ultimate control over Hogwarts by sending in Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Tabloids and rumors are rife with gossip about Lord Voldemort's return, but the Ministry wishes to hush it all up. Harry Potter faces feeling more rejected than he has ever felt, because legally, he is now officially a Snape, and his enemies of his enemies have now become his friends...I am continuing this series on Severus Snape's family for those of you interested in this story.Please do not forget to vote and comment if you like, or wish to say what you think.Warnings for: Violence, sexy love scenes, and saucy adult language, and naughtiness at times.🔱💕🔱💕🔱💕🔱💕🔱💕🔱💕🔱
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Harry

The black haired, contact lens wearing wizard dropped the last red rose on top of Cedric Diggory's walnut coffin. It was raining on the grounds of Hogwarts as he rejoined Hermione, Sebastian, and Professor Snape close to the immediate Diggory family. Ginny Weasley kept stealing glances over at him, and Snape finally said, "Why don't you just go over and talk to her, Harry?"

Harry still couldn't used to Snape being his legal guardian until he turned seventeen, at least. Nor was it normal in any way for Snape to call him by name in private, it still felt weird as hell, in his opinion. 

"Oh, I...I can't do that, we're at a funeral...sir," Harry stammered.

Snape scowled, "For Gods sake, boy, if you could only hear your mind right now: 'should I ask her out?' 'Will she think I'm weird?' Fortune and love favors the bold, Harry. If you won't ask Miss. Weasley out, some other wizard will."

Sebastian chuckled, "Oh, ease up on him, dad, Harry's just nervous."

"Yeah, and why are you trying to set me up on a date anyway?" Harry asked. 

"Because I cannot stand to see you mope about the castle bemoaning your nonexistent love life, Harry, but it is nothing to me," Snape said frankly. "Go, and do not come back without a yay or nay. House points may be docked for non compliance." 

Harry quickly got up. Gryffindor couldn't afford to lose any more points at this late stage, even though he knew his stepdad was joking...right? Ginny looked at him, and Ron and Fred and George looked shocked as well. 

"Um," Harry pushed up glasses that were no longer on his face, "Could I like borrow Ginny for a bit, guys?"

Ginny looked confused, and probably rightfully so, ever since the tournament last year, he barely said ten words to her. 

He led her away towards Hagrid's hut under his umbrella, and said, "Well, I might as well spit it out: if you're free for a weekend, I was wondering if you want to...like go out...but like as friends, cause' of Fleur and all of that."

Ginny looked a bit surprised. Her green eyes widened and she said, "Um, I think we can arrange something. But as friends, because me and Dean are trying to work things out."

Harry felt a lightening in his heart. He smiled, and hugged her, "Thanks, Ginny. You won't regret it."

She pushed her red hair out of her face. "I better not. Now, go. Dean's kind of weird about other guys talking to his girl."

No sooner had she said something, but Dean Thomas came marching to her side, and glared at him, "Hey Potter, you mind not talking to my girl? I don't think you have that right."

Harry put up his hands in surrender, and backed up. "Fine, man. But I think Ginny can talk to whoever she likes."

"Uh huh, whatever Potter," Dean bowed up to him, shielding Ginny from view, "Just know that I'll be watching you, you got that?"

He backed up, and said, "Yeah, sure. I'll just...um, go."

Dean relaxed slightly, "Yeah, make that an extra long trip. You've got no business talking to what's mine."

Harry hurried back to his family, and Draco looked at him curiously. "What's up, Potter?"

"Dean's being a possessive git as usual," Harry shrugged, "But I think Ginny's coming around to at least talking with me."

Draco glanced at the black Gryffindor arguing in hushed whispers with the beautiful red haired Gryffindor witch. "Yeah, well, don't give your hopes up too much, Potter," Draco said, "There's always more fishes in the sea than Weaslette over there."

Harry knew that Draco was right, but he felt a little bit sore that Ginny of all witches would let herself be talked down to by a wizard. 

"I'm sure you're right, but I want to at least try with her," He finally said. 

Draco popped in a piece of gum and chewed, "Suit yourself. I'm going to go talk with Blaise and the other Slytherins. You're welcome to come if you want."

Harry grinned, "Um, I'll think about it."

Draco clapped him on the back. "Sure, coz, you bet. I'll see you around."

Mrs. Malfoy looked a bit ashen faced, not because of the funeral per say, but because her husband landed in some heap of trouble after defending Snape and him, and made it possible for them to escape with Cedric Diggory's body last year. She nodded to him stiffly, and he nodded back. 

The pastor then asked if anyone wanted to say some final words about Cedric Diggory. Cho Chang got up first, and she looked like a pretty grieving widow; one would think she just lost her husband instead of her boyfriend.

"Cedric was a true friend, and..." Cho sniffed, dabbing delicately at her eyes with a tissue, "And he was the best boyfriend a girl could have. We came from different school Houses, but when he asked me out, it was the happiest I think we both ever were. He was so sweet, and nice, and...I'm so sorry that he is gone."

Cho left the stage, and Harry made his way over to the podium. Immediately, he felt everyone's eyes on him, but he didn't care, what he had to say would be very brief, indeed. 

"What I have to say will be very brief," Harry explained, and took a few calming breaths, "I knew Cedric only as a fellow comrade in arms. Even though I should not have been chosen for the Tri-Wizard tournament, he never begrudged my spot in the tournament, nor gave credence to any of the rumors circulating from the tabloids in The Daily Prophet. I found him to be the perfect Hufflepuff: kind, but also fair minded and loyal to all who knew him. I wish I had known him better, honestly. But in the last task when I tragically lost Fleur," His voice cracked on mentioning Fleur Delacour, "He got me to pull it together, and keep going. When Peter Pettigrew killed him, I promised myself that I would return his body to his family, and so I have. Bye Cedric, I hope you've found peace. Thank you, for listening, folks."

The crowd clapped politely. Hermione reached over Sebastian's lap and squeezed his hands gently, "That was a lovely speech, Harry. I didn't know him, but he sounded like a nice guy."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, he was. Thanks, Mione.' "

She nodded back, and leaned her head on Sebastian's shoulder. In many ways, Harry envied his older brother. He had a love most people would never find. He knew that it probably wouldn't have worked between him and Fleur, but at least they could have dated a bit, maybe shagged a few times. But no, it was yet another opportunity that Lord Voldemort stole from him.

Other students and teachers got up to speak about the deceased, and even Snape said a few polite words about Cedric that surprised everyone, since he kept so much of his emotions private. 

The reception afterwards was quiet, and thoughtful, unlike a usual wake party where there was more spirited talking going on, and reporters from The Daily Prophet or Quibbler interviewing everyone of importance. Without Rita Skeeter around, the wake party was mercifully quiet and subdued. 

The train ride back to King's Cross station was even more so, especially since only Ron joined him. Hermione and Sebastian elected to apparate to the Prince mansion to finalize the preparations for their wedding, which would take place the day after Sebastian's graduation party, and to which Ron was invited to. 

When he arrived back at the Dursley's, Harry was glad to be left alone, and ignored for once. He decided to do his mourning in peace, no matter how eager everyone else was to just get on with their lives and carry on. But little did he know just how much the Ministry would put a strain on everyone who attended Hogwarts this coming year...


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione

My nerves felt like they were shot as I saw my veil go over my hair for the finishing touch of my wedding gown in the mirror. I'm doing it! I'm going to be a married woman by the end of this evening. 

Narcissa Malfoy did some last minute adjustments to my dress, and said happily, "There. You look absolutely beautiful, Hermione. Like a true Slytherin Princess."

I laughed nervously at that, "Is that really true? I was sorted into Gryffindor."

Narcissa shrugged, "As far as I'm concerned, you're one of us, dear. Now, don't cry, or your eyeliner will run and give you raccoon eyes."

I stepped off of the closet dressing area platform. I looked great, like a beautiful Princess that couldn't possibly be me. Narcissa wore a sharp black suit with an emerald snake broach pinned on her lapel, and looked just about damned perfect as always. 

Malfoy Manor was decorated for the special occasion with flowers and fairies flying everywhere, giving the gorgeous grounds an ethereal, dream-like ambiance. My father met me by the bottom of the grand staircase, and he looked rather plain in his gray Sunday suit. 

He had a big smile on his face, and he greeted me with a hug, and asked, "Are you nervous, Min'?"

I nodded, "Yes, but I think I'll be fine once I see him."

"Well, you look great," He said, admiring my gown. "And this is a beautiful home. I never knew you had such wealthy friends."

I laughed, "Well, yeah. But I wasn't always friendly with the Malfoys, and--"

"And which is all water under the bridge," Lucius Malfoy cut in. He looked healthier as of late, but he still looked a bit tired. He bowed, and kissed my hand. "My wife sent me out here to send out a search party for you. Shall I tell them you will be a runaway bride?"

I laughed, "No, that won't be necessary, but I might consider it if I got some coffee. I didn't sleep a wink last night."

"Nor do most couples," Lucius agreed, "But I will tell Cissa' that you are alive and well."

"Good. Was Bastian' worried?"  
"No, he's alright," Lucius winked, "Nervous, like you, but faring well. Are you ready?"

I nodded, and he went back out to the gardens to inform everyone that I was fine. Ginny Weasley ran in, adjusting her midnight blue bridesmaid dress, and I was alarmed to see that she had been crying. There was a faint red mark on the right hand side of her cheek. My father was about to ask what was wrong with her, but I flashed him a warning glance to stay out of it. He sighed, and nodded. 

The ushers opened the doors to the gardens, and the wedding music began as my father and I walked down the aisle leading up to the flowered archway where Sebastian, Draco, and Harry stood. On the opposite side of them to the left stood the Patil sisters, and Luna Lovegood in their identical bridesmaid dresses. 

  
An elaborate letter M decorated the aisle runner, but I didn't care, this was my special day. I felt very on the spot as the guests photographed and stared at me in my wedding finery. I chose a lovely mermaid hemmed gown, heavily beaded with capped sleeves, and I wanted to be able to move in the dress, so I shied away from the bulkier ballgown styled gowns that were more traditional for a wizarding wedding.

  
Sebastian looked like he was beaming with happiness, and Draco and Harry looked absolutely gobsmacked as I approached the altar on my father's arm.

"Who gives this bride away to be married this day?" The Ministry official called out.

My father stepped forward. "I do, sir. I am Jon Granger, father of the bride."

The official turned to Sebastian and asked officially, "And do you accept this bride, Mr. Prince?"

Sebastian cleared his throat, and said, "I do, sir."

"And do you accept your intended, and plight your troth, Miss. Granger?" The Ministry official asked.

I stared into Sebastian's beautiful black eyes, and felt my heart flutter from the love I saw shining in them. My nervousness went away completely after that.

"I do, sir," I responded.  
"Then take each other's hands."  
My father placed my hand in Sebastian's, and stepped away to go back to his seat beside my mom, who was already crying tears of joy as they sat beside Professor Snape, and Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Sebastian squeezed my hand encouragingly, and we turned our attention to the ceremony.

The Ministry official, who looked like a very nerdy version of Professor Lupin, turned to us and asked, "Do you, Sebastian Severus Prince, vow to honor, protect, and love this witch? To forsake all others, and to be devoted wholly and entirely to her for as long as the bond between you endures?"

Sebastian looked at me, and said softly, "I do."

"And do you, Hermione Jean Granger vow to love, honor, and pledge to be wholly and loyal to your wizard? To forsake all others and to place your affairs and life within his hands?"

"I do," I responded.

The Ministry official took out his wand, and a halo of magic surrounded our entwined hands. A pure white light turned to blue as the marital bonds settled within our magical cores.

"Do you have rings?" The official asked Sebastian.

"Yes," My husband said.  
"Then exchange rings."  
Draco brought forth our rings, and we silently placed our rings on each other. He gave me an encouraging wink, and stood beside Harry again. I almost thought Harry would be chosen as Best Man, but as they never grew up together, they didn't have the bond that Draco shared with Sebastian.

The Ministry official smiled happily and said, "Then by the power vested in me as an official of the Ministry of Magic, you may now kiss your bride, Mr. Prince."

Sebastian turned to me, and the world around us seemed to fade into the background as he took me in his arms and kissed me softly. He was about to pull away, but I threw my arms around his neck, and lifted up on my toes to press my lips firmly to his. He teased my bottom lip with his tongue, and I granted him entrance as I ran my fingers through his soft black hair. I vaguely heard our guests clapping as we stopped kissing.

"We're going to have to pick this up later," Sebastian purred in my ear. We were presented as Mr. and Mrs. Prince, and our guests applauded us soundly.

I felt like I was in a strange dream I hoped never to awake from as I walked back down the aisle a married woman. The Malfoys hugged me warmly, as did my parents. But I was shocked when my new father in law hugged me, and he wiped away a few tears.

"Do I get lots of House points for getting through this?" I teased.

My father in law broke into a faint grin, and it was remarkable how it erased a lot of his four looks. "I would say at least an O grade at the minimum," He remarked in a dry tone. "Lily would have been beside herself with joy to see her son married today."

I nodded, understanding. It must have been hard to see his eldest son get married when his wife and daughter Rose were killed by Voldemort. "I plan on being good to him," I replied.

He kissed my forehead, shocking everyone. "I know you will. You two are good for one another. But it may complicate your return to Hogwarts as a married witch."

"Couldn't I just stay with Sebastian in his Slytherin rooms?" I inquired.

Snape sighed, "I will discuss this at length with Dumbledore, you have my word. For now, congratulations, Hermione."

He turned and briskly walked away talking with my parents. The receiving line was long, and I couldn't believe that so many people wanted to talk with me and Sebastian. We spoke diplomatically, and when that was over with, we all had a beautiful reception that lasted until late in the evening.

Later in our room, we decided to sleep off the excitement of the day, rather than have sex. I snuggled into Sebastian's chest, and he kissed the top of my head as he yawned.

"It feels silly," He remarked, apropos to nothing.

"What does?"  
"The ceremony. I feel like we've been married forever."

I propped my head on my hand and looked down at my handsome husband. "Yeah, I know. But I wish it could have been more private."

Sebastian laughed, "Private, small parties and the Malfoys don't fit in the same sentence, love. Is it weird yet being married?"

"No, just calling your dad, my dad is," I confessed. "He actually smiled at me today, and hugged me. I think your mom and sister not being here triggered him a bit."

He nodded, smoothing some of my hair out of my face. "Yeah, I know. When dad found out about Rose, it kind of made the grief worse for him, because mom was pregnant, and were it not for the Dark Lord, they would have been here congratulating us."

"I'm sorry."  
"Don't be," He kissed me briefly, and lifted my chin with his finger. "Hermione, look at me." I did, and wiped at my tears. "Mom would have loved you, alright? She died when I was four, so I somewhat remember her. Just know that she would have been thrilled that I went against tradition to marry for love."

"I wish I had known her."  
"I know," He hugged me close. "But she was a lovely lady, babe, and she loved me and my dad fiercely."

"Then why did she marry James Potter?" I asked.

A sadness crept into my husband's eyes as he said, "My dad was a deatheater by that time, and she didn't want to be known as being associated with them, so she asked Potter to do it to keep up appearances. But he was a bad husband, and treated her horribly because she refused to give up dad as her legal husband in the wizarding world."

I knew that Harry was born as a result of rape, but being the loving woman Lily was, she kept the baby, and protected her son with her life.

"I'm sorry I brought it up."  
"Don't be, it's okay."  
"It is?"

  
"Yes, you're family now," Sebastian said, and reached over to the nightstand to turn out the lights. We were going to tour France, Germany, and Ireland to see castles, and stay in some of them for our honeymoon. I elected to do that over the typical tropical holiday most couples take for these two week sabbaticals.

Normally, I would have spent the last bit of my summer holiday with my parents, or the Weasleys. But everything changed when I got married. I just had no idea how surreal it would be when I began my fifth year at Hogwarts, and see just what havoc the Ministry of Magic was about to unleash upon the entire school. But that night, I slept safe and warm in Sebastian's arms, and I had no dreams to trouble me, bad or good...


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian 

Prince Manor felt like a welcome presence after the long honeymoon I shared with Hermione, and when the black limo we hired to drive us from Heathrow airport pulled up to the driveway, I picked up Hermione, and carried her across the threshold.

Hermione giggled, "Oh my gods, you can put me down now for Merlin's sake, Bastian!"

I set her on her feet, and she socked my arm playfully. "Sorry, I just thought you would appreciate being carried across the threshold of your home."

Hermione smiled, and kissed me. "I liked it, but you didn't have to do that. It's kind of weird that we have to go back to Hogwarts. Well, I do any way, I'm only in my fifth year, after all."

I kissed my wife's hand. "So what? I have to go back as well, since I'm going to work as my dad's potions apprentice, and handle his classes when his duties force him to do spy missions for Dumbledore."

"You aren't going to dress like him, are you?" She asked, "Because that would be soo weird having my husband dressed like a clone of my father in law."

I laughed, "Really? You don't think it could be sexy? Maybe I'll give you detentions just so that I can punish you effectively."

"You wouldn't dare!"  
I pouted, "We've role played before. You mean I can't spank you, or tie you up while I use my wand on you? I'm just beside myself with grief."

Hermione shook her head, "Whatever. Escort me upstairs, kinky, I am so freaking tired that I could just sleep for fifty years."

I led her to the master bedroom, and we got ready for bed. We snuggled, and did indeed sleep for many hours, because of the long flight from California. Hermione had wanted to travel the muggle way for our honeymoon, explaining that not everything had to be done with magic. I agreed, and so we traveled around Europe by train, essentially. But on the second to last day of our honeymoon, Hermione wanted to have a shopping date in California, and so we did. It was a lot of fun touring Hollywood and shopping at Rodeo drive; and then we left, and flew back to England. 

In a strange, ironic way, I was kind of happy to be returning to Hogwarts as essentially part of the staff this time around. The only thing I know that I wouldn't care for is not being able to share my bed completely with my wife while she was a student. My father tried to argue against this, saying that we are of age, and married, but Dumbledore refused for some stupid reason. I suspect it had something to do with Professor McGonagoll, but it was a big disappointment all the same. 

The last week before classes passed by quickly as Hermione's things were moved into both her bedroom, and the master bedroom. She argued about having her own private space, and I agreed. Plus, I don't think she wanted to give up her sumptuous guest bedroom. At any rate, it was tiring to have her things moved in from her parent's house. 

Hermione finally got the fifth year Hogwarts letter, and I got my contract, and it was a bit amusing to be reminded to wear teacher's robes during school hours.

She had wanted to go to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies, but dad said, "I wouldn't recommend you do that, Hermione. Things are getting quite tense at the Ministry of Magic, and Dumbledore. I have heard that Fudge is sending his personal secretary to Hogwarts to 'oversee things.' "

Hermione rounded on him, "So, I should feel ashamed to be married, is that it, dad?"

My father scowled, "No, I did not say that. I'm only exercising caution. Still, it would be better if you treated me like any other teacher while in school."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Of course. But just because Ron and Harry don't like you, doesn't mean I can't think of you as anything but a father figure, Severus."

My father hugged her, and said, "That's...that's touching."

"Aw, dad, you do care," I teased.  
"I do _not_ , brat."  
I laughed, "Surre you don't. So, are you still wanting to go to Diagon Alley, dear?"

Hermione nodded, "I do, but only to see friends. Go ahead and order what I need through owl post."

I kissed her hand. "You got it, babe." 

We spent all day catching up with friends in Diagon Alley while dad reported to Dumbledore about his latest intel. I know that Uncle Lucius has spied for Dumbledore for years as well, so it will be quite a shock for his little secret society to know that the Malfoys really don't support Voldemort in reality.

The day we left for the train, Hermione decided to ride with the Slytherins, and while some of them still thought it was disgusting that I married a muggleborn, most of them were resigned to it. Harry was trying to date Ginny Weasley ever since the funeral, but she seemed to be afraid to leave Dean Thomas. 

I cornered the skinny black Gryffindor on the way to the loo, and pinned him up against the wall of the train. "If you hurt Miss. Weasley, I will find some distasteful chores for you to do in _my_ detentions, Mr. Thomas."

Dean sneered, "Why? Granger's ass not enough for you, git? What I do with _my_ girlfriend is my own business, and you're crazy if you can give out detentions, or dock House points. You're not even a teacher for crying out loud."

I released him, and grinned, "Well, we will certainly see, won't we, Mr. Thomas? Now, make yourself scarce, you have just the most punchable face right now."

Dean wanted to protest, but I glared at him, and found my new teaching robes in the teacher's train car. The robes looked identical to my father's, and when I was done getting ready, I thought I looked very dark and intimidating. My father looked up from reading a potions directory, and he rose to adjust my high collar.

"There," My father nodded, stepping away from me to sit back down. "You officially look like me now. But velvet, boy? Is that not overdoing it a bit?"

I shrugged. "If you say so. I like it, and it was less scratchy than wool." 

My father cracked a grin. "Yes, well, I prefer my robes as they are. Now, leave me to my research, I'm busy."

"Sure, dad. I'll go."  
My hand was on the sliding train door when my father called me back. "Yes, dad?"

"Do keep an eye on your brother, won't you?" He asked without looking up from scratching a few notes in a black journal on the table before him. 

"Yes, dad."  
"Good."

I went on my patrol and had to give out detentions to a few arguing Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. I went to check on Harry, but he was busy with Ginny Weasley, so I decided to go sit with Hermione, and my friends. We all talked about incidental things until it was time to get changed into school robes. I rode with Hermione in one of the carriages, and we made out as the thestral drawn carriages brought us up to the school. 

I buttoned my last button up to my throat. "I can't tell you how hot that was with being able to unbutton all of that, it was so erotic," She confessed. "It's a shame we have to be separated like this."

She tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, and kissed me softly, "I know, babe. But it's temporary."

A clearing of the throat made me turn around, and eye a witch that was dressed head to toe in pink robes. Her face resembled a toad's and she unfortunately, thought pink looked good as makeup as well. She was on the train, and annoying the other staff members with her habit of trying to play twenty questions with them. 

"Mr. Prince, is it not?" She asked in a grating, sweetly venomous voice, "Exactly what are you doing with a student? Is that not inappropriate?"

I scowled, "No, it's not. She is my _wife_. This is Madame Hermione Prince."

The pink toad made a show of being mistaken. "Oh! My apologies. Still, it would be viewed as most...improper, shall we say, if it were known that a member of the Prince family wed someone not fit for them."

" _Excuse_ me?!" Hermione demanded, putting her hands on herhips. "Is that a threat?"

Umbridge grinned her rictus grin, and chuckled, "Oh, not all, dear. It's just merely an observation from an interested party. Good evening to you both, I'm certain that we will prove to be great friends."

I watched the pink witch leave, and I gave Hermione one last kiss. "You had better get to the Gryffindor table before she starts up more mischief."

"You're not eating with the Slytherins?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head, and grinned, "Nope, it comes with being the potions apprentice. I get to sit with the teachers during meals."

Hermione hugged me tight, excited, "Oh wow! Sebastian, this is awesome! I'm so happy for you. No wonder you're dressed like him. I kind of think it's hot."

I leaned in, and whispered in her ear, "You know, Mrs. Prince, I do think you should curb that saucy tongue, or I may have to punish you."

Hermione sighed, "Oh, well, we wouldn't want that to happen would we, Professor Prince?"

I winked at her, "Indeed, Mrs. Prince. Do kindly refrain from such language in the future."

"I will, sir. Thank you."  
We parted then, and went into the Great Hall separately. But when I entered, I put on my father's cold facade, and students were talking in hushed whispers, and Longbottom grew worried about the Junior Snape that had arrived at Hogwarts.

I sat next to my father, and Professor McGonagoll. "You look quite the spitting image of your father, Professor Prince," She said in a dry tone.

I nodded, my face impassive, "Yes, well, I am pleased to return to Hogwarts in any way I can."

McGonagoll nodded, "Indeed. If you are as capable of potions as your father, I am certain that you will exceed all expectations."

"That is my hope as well, Professor. Thank you," I said dryly. Dumbledore took to the stage, and gave his start of term announcements after the first years were sorted to their school Houses, but was interrupted by the pink toad Umbridge.

Umbridge rose, and everyone stared at her, incredulous that the Headmaster was interrupted. I glanced at my father and he nodded towards the stage.

"I am so delighted to be welcomed so graciously by you all," The witch's saccharin strident voice rang out in clear tones over the hall, "The Ministry of Magic has always found the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. But we all must embrace change, and what will work in this school will continue, and what will not will be pruned with utmost care as one would root out a weed. I look forward to meeting each and everyone of you, and welcome you to this transformative new year at Hogwarts."

" _What the fuck?"_ I asked my father mentally. " _Did that really just happen?"_ He gestured that we could do nothing without real proof, or a plan in place. I nodded, and the Great Hall fell into its usual routine of eating the feast prepared by the house elves. 

When it was time to go the common rooms, I helped the prefects get the students to bed, and keep them there. I retired to my own room in Slytherin House, since I couldn't very well share my father's living space, and soaked in my tub for a long time before getting ready for bed. I already missed Hermione with me. I grew used to having her in my arms as I slept, but as she was still a student, I couldn't very well sneak her into the Slytherin dungeons. No, I had to endure this separation, we both did. But we had no clue just how difficult Umbridge would make all of our lives in a very short span of time...


	4. Chapter 4

Severus

The black haired, dour potions master had a bad feeling about this first staff meeting at the start of this new school term. Sebastian entered the room looking, and dressed like a strange clone of himself. He had been twenty one when he first began his own teaching career, and while his son was not technically at potions master level yet, Dumbledore had still made his newly graduated son part of the staff. 

The diamonds on his son's wedding band glittered in the light, and he found himself thinking of the strange ironies of his life, because his son was now married, and to one of his students. His Dark Mark tattoo tingled ever so slightly, but then again, it was only because the despot Voldemort had recently been resurrected as of last year. The meeting was well underway when Umbridge decided to show up.

"Ah, good," Dumbledore said with veiled sarcasm, "Miss. Umbridge has decided to graciously deigned to show her face at our humble gathering."

The toad faced witch flashed an unsettling rictus grin that looked quite manic in his estimation. "Oh, yes, well, I was aware that I had to submit my lesson plans for the semester. Why do I see no paperwork present?" She eyed Severus's son sharply, "Unlike some of us present, I was aware that this was a prerequisite to this meeting?"

Sebastian eyed the pink toad with a disdain he showed to those he truly loathed, "Ah yes, Professor, it is. But then again, some of us naturally would know of this before the summer holidays, and would have prepared accordingly."

Sebastian pulled out a thick file of lesson plans from his robes, enlarged them to their original size, and slammed them on the conference table in a clear challenge. Trelawny and McGonagoll flinched. The divination Professor looked positively terrified of his son, and Severus fought the urge to grin at everyone's discomfiture. 

Umbridge grinned slyly, and said, "Hmm. I do marvel how you made the time with a new...wife is she?"

Sebastian narrowed his black eyes, "You overstep, madam. Like I said before the start of term feast, my personal life is none of your affair."

"I quite agree, Professor Prince," McGonagoll chimed in, "In the future, it would be advisable if you did not bring up the personal affairs of staff members, Professor Umbridge."

"Humph! Such inappropriateness--"

"Silence!" Severus snapped, causing the table to flinch at his cold Professor tone of voice, "My son is none of your concern."

Umbridge blinked her froggy eyes in astonishment, "S-Son?! _Him_?" She pointed a pink lacquered nail in Sebastian's direction accusingly.

Trelawny rolled her eyes in annoyance, "And they say _my_ eyes are bad. Oh, Severus, do buy lots of blue sleep jumpers. The sight tells me of a new, lovely addition to your family."

A friendly chuckle echoed around the table. Dumbledore smiled, his blue eyes doing that irritating twinkle in his eyes he hated so much. "Thank you, Sybil. I'm sure Severus will be most proud of the news once it happens. But let us move on to other topics of a less personal nature, shall we?"

Everyone agreed, including the pink toad, although Severus could swear that the woman made a frog call half the time with how many times she wanted to interrupt the meeting.

When the meeting blessedly adjourned, Sebastian chuckled, "I see Professor Trelawny still states the obvious. Girl or boy, it will probably be inevitable I will have a kid in the future."

Severus grinned, "Knowing the Snape proclivity for insatiable bedroom needs I'm certain you wear that poor girl out."

Sebastian laughed, "Minnie's tougher than she looks, dad. But anyways, have you or Uncle Lucius heard about...the Dark Lord after the tri-wizard tournament?"

Severus lifted up his sleeve, and of course, the Dark Mark was darker in color. "I don't have to, the Mark tingles, because he is alive once more, but it will only burn if I am summoned."

"Harry might know," Sebastian pointed out, "I'm fairly certain that being marked by the killing curse has caused a strange psychic bond to form between them."

Severus agreed, "I agree. Get some sleep, son, I have some spy tasks to complete before I can teach the afternoon classes."

"You want me to focus on healing draughts, or pepper ups?" Sebastian asked, all business again. "I understand that I have mostly first and second years in the mornings."

"Healing draughts should be fine," Severus decided. They paused at the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "Just do not be afraid to dock House points from Slytherin, should they cause you problems."

"You mean Draco."  
"Among others."

  
"I'll remember. Good night, dad," Sebastian said. They hugged, and parted ways quickly. He retired to his own quarters, and tried to research on just what dark magic to bring about keeping Dumbledore alive until the proper moment. 

But even so, even the old, reckless fool had to admit that he was living on borrowed time. But then again, weren't they all when it came right down to it? The answer was, yes, unfortunately, and he was damned if he wasn't going to spend it bringing justice to his late wife, and unborn daughter. In the end, the despot would know it was him who brought about his downfall, and he wanted ringside seats in the end to watch it all go down...


	5. Chapter 5

Harry

One Month Later...

Detentions had become an altogether frequent occurrence with the arrival of Professor Umbridge, or pink toad, as the students had nicknamed her. Sebastian was teaching potions classes when Professor Snape could not, and if the students thought his father was a hard case, he was nothing compared to Sebastian Prince. 

Harry thought that it was almost like having Percy Weasley teaching classes in a way, because he ruthlessly docked House points for even a small deviation from the rules. However, unlike his father, Sebastian encouraged creative free thinking with the potions, so long as it was within the lesson plans. But as far as trouble making, he was ruthless in his distribution of detentions. 

Even Hermione was challenged harder in potions class, although she was able to ask her husband more questions than Professor Snape would allow. It was after the first week that they were back in school, that Harry had to go to Professor Umbridge's office. The office was decorated in shades of mauve and pink, and if Harry had not known that the woman was an absolute bitch, then it could be assumed based on her decorating style, that this was a sweet older woman. 

She had white crochet doilies everywhere, and porcelain cat plates everywhere on the walls. A mauve velvet curtain hanged on the one window in the room, and the pink toad herself sat in all of her pink toad-like glory to the left of it at her desk grading papers with a pink quill pen, naturally. She did not look up when Harry came in, and said, "Please sit down, Mr. Potter. You will be using the quill provided on the desk, and you will write 'I must not tell lies.' "

"How many times?" Harry asked.  
Umbridge looked up, and smiled her saccharine sweet smile at him, "Well, until the message...sinks in, of course. You may begin."

"But you haven't given me any ink," Harry pointed out.

Again, that venomous smile that held no warmth to it, "Oh, you won't be needing any, you will see. Now, please begin."

Harry thought that the witch was off her rocker, but he started to write on the parchment in front of him. He felt a slight itching on the back of his left hand, and then a cutting sensation, as if someone was dragging a sharp pin across his hand, or a tattoo needle. He wrote down the required line five times before he saw that the red ink appearing on the parchment was his own blood. 

The letters showed themselves in sharp relief on the back of his hand, and he looked at Umbridge in horror. "Are you truly deranged?! Why would you do this?" He demanded.

All pretense at positivity vanished, and Harry wished that he had just kept his mouth shut, because the toad faced witch strode over to him, and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a scratch from her nails on his right cheek. 

"Be fortunate that I do not take a whip to your back," She spat venomously, "Get out of my sight, Potter. Your presence is disturbing my cats."

Harry didn't need to be told twice, but he suspected that this would not be his first detention encounter with the deranged witch. He shuddered to think what would happen to him if the woman had complete control over the school. He gathered up his things, and all but ran out of the room. 

When he was halfway to Gryffindor tower, he saw Hermione rushing out, crying, and Ginny demanding that she come back inside. 

"...Maybe I have more important things to worry about than OWLs!" Hermione shouted, "Now, let me go! And don't you follow me again, do you hear? You're involved enough as it is."

Hermione walked off, but Harry didn't bother to follow his friend, because he had a feeling that whatever was going on had to do with her marriage, and he had no business even messing with that, he had problems enough of his own. He decided to talk to Ginny instead. 

"Hey, Gin," He greeted.  
Ginny whirled around, letting out a faint squeak of fright. "Oh! Sorry, Harry. I just...I'm not really in a sociable mood right now. Mione's kind of acting all secretive, and when I asked her why she was sneaking out, she said it was none of my business. I was trying to warn her to study for her OWLs, and all of that, but...have you noticed that Professor Snape's been gone a lot from Hogwarts?"

Harry shrugged, "Well, yeah, it's why Bastian' subs his classes for him."

They sat beside each other on the main couch in the common room. "But he seems to be worse than Snape, Harry. I mean, like really, really strict. And then people are shunning you for being a Snape practically yourself. This school year so far is just...well, weird I say, just weird. Only no one wants to really say anything about it."

"Ginny," Harry said carefully, "Hermione's probably just missing Sebastian. He's actually kind of cool out of the classroom, and that's all there is to it. We need to worry more about Professor Umbridge more than anything else, honestly."

Ginny shook her head, still upset, "But Harry, it's not like her to ignore her studies, like ever, even for a guy. Even when she dated Viktor Krum, she was always on top of her studies."

"Are her grades failing, Gin?"  
"Well, no, but--"  
"Ginny, she's married," Harry reminded her, "And she has a marriage to deal with on top of everything else, and--"

But Harry didn't get to finish his words, because Draco Malfoy burst into the Gryffindor common room, and said, "Potter, you need to come with me, now. You can talk to Weaslette later, alright??"

Ginny put her hands on her hips, and stared his god brother down, "Speak to me with a little more respect than that, _ferret_ , or I may have to hex you here and now, and wipe that smug smile off your face for good."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Fine, _Ginervra_. I came here to collect my godbrother, and I'm not leaving here without him."

Ron came down the stairs, and angrily stepped in front of Harry. "What the bloody hell are you doing in _our_ common room, Malfoy?! It better be a damned good reason."

Draco eyed Harry intently, and he heard his godbrother's voice in his head, " _Harry, please come with me. It's not safe for you here. You, me, or Hermione. It has to do with the Ministry, alright? You know my father is a spy for the Order of Phoenix as well as my Uncle Severus. Please, brother."_

_"What about my things?"_  
 _"Dobby is handling it,"_ Draco said.  
 _"Okay, but I have to do this one thing before I go. And then, I better get a damned good explanation,"_ Harry said.

Draco nodded, and smirked as he divined his thoughts before he closed them off.

Harry looked at Ron, and said apologetically, "Ron, I'm so sorry that I have to do this."

Ron gave him a clueless expression, until Harry went to Ginny, and grabbed her and kissed her soundly. 

"I love you, Ginny," Harry said softly, "I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, okay?"

"O-Okay," Ginny stammered. She hugged him tightly, and kissed him back briefly before letting him go. 

Harry left with Draco, and Draco led him directly to Professor Snape's office. "We have to use the Floo network to get to Prince Manor, and then we're going to be transferring schools."

Harry looked at Draco like he had gone insane. "But the other closest school is Durmstrang, unless we're going to America and going to Ilivermorny."

Draco poured himself a glass of firewhisky and drained it, "A Malfoy attend school with the Yanks? Gods forbid, Potter. Anyways, I think only Hermione is staying because of her hubby, but you and I are going to be attending school with Krum himself."

Harry felt a weird sense of finality in all of this, so he finally asked, "Got any more of that?"

Draco poured him a glass. "Thanks. Has Bastian's dad always been a lush?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "My dad is worse. But you're in danger now because of some idiotic prophecy about you in the Department of Mysteries. Well, me too, because I'm a deatheater's kid. Did you know of my godfather being a spy for Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, but I thought your dad actually liked that dark magic crap," Harry pointed out. 

"Yeah, well, the only one truly into that shit is my Aunt Bellatrix," Draco said. Green flames appeared in the fireplace, and Lucius Malfoy stepped out. 

Harry tried to rationalize that the handsome pure blood wizard was in reality a spy, but it was hard to wrap his head around. 

"Draco told you about my spy affiliation?" Mr. Malfoy asked pointedly.

"Yes. But...you're a good actor."  
Malfoy laughed, "I've had to be. But come on, let's get you guys home. Did Dobby handle Potter's school things?"

Draco shrugged his shoulders, "I guess we'll know when we get there. But knowing it's Harry, the elf will do it, he worships the ground he walks on." 

Lucius Malfoy nodded, approving, "Good. We have to go. Draco, you first."

Draco stepped into the green flames, and shouted, "Prince Manor."

Harry followed, and gave his destination to the Floo Network. He appeared momentarily in the main foyer of the Prince mansion. Lucius Malfoy appeared a moment later, and he quickly warded the Floo network against those who would try to follow them.

Malfoy took off to the main staircase, and Harry wanted to follow Draco's father up the stairs after him, but Draco pulled him back. 

"Don't, he wouldn't like that," Draco said. "Everyone's already attending to my Uncle as best as they can, alright? He was injured by the Dark Lord in the last meeting. It was a pretty bad Crucio."

"No wonder Mione' was mad at Ginny," Harry said, thinking out loud. "I doubt she would be allowed to go out with me if she knew all that I knew. Do you think we'll be allowed to go back to Hogwarts once Umbridge is gone?"

Draco shrugged, and yawned, "You talk too much, Harry. I'm guessing the answer is yes, but I'd like to go to Durmstrang myself. I heard their potions classes are way better. You get to learn way cooler potions earlier in your school years."

"Sebastian is a good teacher."  
Draco agreed, "Yeah, he's cool. But man, is he strict. I like it, though, I feel challenged."

Harry didn't know what to think of that. They headed up to their rooms, and the two younger wizards slept, ignorant to the worried state of the household as they cared for the injuries of the dour potions master, and chief spy of Dumbledore...


	6. Chapter 6

Harry

The air of the Cornish coast was cold and frigid in the early morning hours, as Hermione drove Harry and Draco in a sleek black Porsche Boxster. She had a worried expression on her face, and Draco sat up front with her, and they only said a few sentences to each other about subjects over his head. Harry found it bizarre how old his best friend seemed, and how, seeing the diamond bridal set on her ring finger made that seem more real to him. 

Hermione bought them breakfast at Barnie's Coffee, and she looked to be fighting back tears. 

When they finally reached the harbor where Viktor Krum would be meeting them, she sighed, and said to Draco, "I guess this is it, Draco."

Draco nodded, looking solemn, "Yeah, I guess it is. Look, for what it's worth, I am deeply sorry for being such a dick to you over the years, but you know why."

A faint smile flashed across her face, "Yes, I know why. But it wouldn't have worked out, Draco. Even if Sebastian were not in the picture, I doubt your parents would have allowed it."

Draco nodded, "Yeah, I know. But since I'm going to be at Durmstrang for a while. Do you think just once I could get a kiss?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "You will not request another one. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."  
Hermione stepped forward, and Draco leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, and Harry watched in shock as he saw them exchange a brief exchange of tongue. Hermione pulled away slowly, and said, "Happy now?"

Draco's smile was radiant. "Oh yeah, I'm awesome."

Hermione turned to Harry and gave him a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. Viktor Krum apparated, and after greeting Hermione respectively, he turned to them, and asked, "You ready to go, boys?"

"Yeah, but I'm not playing sailor, or grab ass," Draco quipped.

Viktor laughed, "Oh, it's not like that, trust me, you'll see. It's just a sailing tradition at Durmstrang to sail to our school. You're welcome to come along if you like, 'Ermione."

Hermione laughed, "I have to stay. My husband needs me, and so does my father in law."

Viktor grinned, "Tell him he's a lucky wizard, but if he doesn't treat you like the Tzarina you deserve, I'm always 'ere for you."

"I know, Viktor," Hermione sighed, "But I love him. We've discussed this at length before."

Viktor kissed her hand, and bowed, "I know, I'm sorry. But you know how I feel."

Hermione teared up, "I do. But it can't be, and you know it."

The ship sailed into the harbor, and Harry hugged Hermione tightly, crying, "I'll miss you, Mione.' Take care of my brother, and step dad, alright?"

"Of course," Hermione kissed him chastely, and Harry walked on to the gangplank to the galleon ship with the Durmstrang double eagle printed on its sails. 

When the ship was underway Draco confessed, "I meant what I said when I told Minnie I love her. But you can't tell my parents I kissed her, alright?"

They shook on it, "I promise. Still, it's kind of weird that Krum would admit he likes her too."

"Yeah, but you miss out on way too much stuff, Potter," Draco chuckled, "Bastian' told me all about how he almost kicked his ass for pursuing his girl a few times. I've always liked her too, but because of the muggleborn thing it can't ever be. Oh well, I got one kiss out of her. But damn can she kiss. Whew!"

Harry narrowed his eyes, "My brother would kill you if he found out you kissed his wife."

Draco shrugged, "Yeah, but at least I'll die a happy wizard. Get yourself a girl, Harry, you'll see what I mean."

Harry scowled at that, but he couldn't argue with the handsome blonde wizard's logic. This was a new life for him, after all, and he was going to live it the best way he knew how: free and alive. With that philosophy, Harry Potter sailed off to Albania where a new life awaited him, and all he had to do was embrace it. So, embrace it, he would to the best of his ability; and so Harry Potter sailed away from his old life, never to return until the war came to Hogwarts doorstep at long last...


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione

I watched the large galleon ship sail out of the harbor, and I had no more tears to shed for my former enemy, and best friend. Losing Harry, potentially for a long time, was going to be hardest on the Weasley's, because they had no notion of just what was going on in the wizarding world beyond what the Ministry of Magic told them.

I drove to my home, and before I arrived home, I modified my memory of kissing Draco Malfoy. When that was done, I typed in the code for the front gate, and drove the Porsche into the garage. The elder Malfoys rose to greet me, and asked about the send off to Durmstrang. I told them all about the journey, the parts I could tell them that was.

"Thank you, Hermione," Narcissa said, hugging me. "For seeing our son safely off to his new school. I trust both boys behaved themselves."

"Oh, I gave them coffee," I quipped, "So, I think it made things better for everyone."

Lucius Malfoy chuckled, "Like father like son, I cannot function without it in the mornings."

"Welcome to muggle life," I teased. "How is dad?"

Narcissa's eyes widened at that, "I'm surprised that you would call your Professor that, dear."

"Only when not in school," I reminded my godmother. "In school, it's always Professor Snape, and--"

"And he would have it no other way," Sebastian said wearily, poking his head into the living room. 

I hugged my husband, and he kissed my cheek softly. He looked extremely tired. "How is dad?"

"Stable," Sebastian reported, "But recovery will take a few weeks at least. He needs to be on a steady diet of blood replenisher potions. The torture curses were brutal this time."

"I know," Lucius Malfoy put in, "I was there, I saw the dark Lord inflict the curses myself."

We all turned to stare at the elder Malfoy in shock. "Oh, Lucius, you didn't tell me that you actually saw it," Narcissa gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.

Lucius nodded gravely, "I did, and I feel like the worst level of scum for not defending my little brother."

"Can I see Severus?" I asked, clearing my throat. Lucius nodded. 

Sebastian came to my side, "I'll go with you. I have to check on him any way."

We went upstairs while the Malfoys talked among themselves. Sebastian looked like he could sleep for fifty years, and I felt so bad leaving home when my father in law's health was at risk. Sebastian turned on one of the bedroom lights, and Severus Snape's body looked like he had been lacerated several times, although bandages covered up most of his torso, and the only thing not remotely injured was his face. Sebastian busied himself with his father's IV, and checked his watch. 

Snape moaned in his sleep, and his eyes flew open, and rested on his son. "You should sleep, boy. You look worse than I feel," He remarked. 

Sebastian chuckled tiredly, "Yeah well, someone has to keep you from killing yourself, old man."

Severus rolled his eyes, and looked at me, "Is Potter and Draco safely away to Durmstrang?"

"Yes, they are. Viktor Krum made sure they were settled in," I informed him, and sat in the chair by the bed. "We were worried sick about you, sir."

Snape laughed bitterly, "Let me guess, you want to know what pissed the dark Lord off enough to hurt me like this. You want to know everything. It is one of your most annoying traits, Hermione."

Sebastian sat on the bed, and said, "You don't have to talk now, dad. You need to rest."

"Shut up, boy," Snape snapped, "Your wife's mind won't be at ease unless she knows more than she should. Well, he plans to find Sirius Black, of course, and lure Potter and his friends to the Department of Mysteries to steal Potter's prophecy crystal."

I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, "Yes, but it's a stupid plan. Why not just say, 'fuck this prophecy nonsense, and kill him?' He's certainly had a stick up his ass about it for fifteen years now."

My father in law laughed, "I wouldn't you to take over then. Yes, there are many deatheaters who would agree with you there. But the dark Lord is nothing if not superstitious. With Harry Potter and Draco out of the way, the spotlight will no longer be on them."

"But Karkaroff is a deatheater as well," Sebastian put in, "There is a chance that he could turn the boys over to the dark Lord at any time."

A wicked grin flashed across Severus Snape's face, "Will he? Can an Unbreakable Vow be broken, Madame Prince?"

"Well...it depends on the wording," I said, and shook my head, "No, generally not, though. If you try to break it, you die, very...violently, I might add. Did you make him swear the oath?"

Severus shook his head, "No, he swore it to Dumbledore as a safe guard, but I acted as the witness who bound their hands together with the spell. Igor is fortunate that he is far away in Albania, or he would have suffered these same injuries. Now, have I put your insufferably curious mind at ease, Hermione?"

I smiled, "Yes, dad, you did. Thank you."

"Dad," Severus repeated, "How ironic that one of my most annoying students turns out to marry my son."

"Oh, hush," I hugged him carefully, "I know you like me, admit it."

"You are...tolerable."  
I rolled my eyes, "I love you too, dad. Gods, you Slytherins are so closed off."

My husband laughed, "We are, but not all of us are frigid about it."

I blushed under his gaze, "And what did you have in mind?"

Sebastian yawned, "Well, nothing tonight except a nice bath with a beautiful witch."

Snape made a gagging noise, "Do spare me your effusive emotions. One would think you two delight in tormenting me."

We shared a laugh over that, "I'll send up the Malfoys, and you guys can talk things over. That sound good to you, dad?" Sebastian asked.

Snape yawned, "No, I will see Lucius tomorrow. Just tell him I'm fine. I know he frets and wrings his hands like a woman where I'm concerned."

"Good night, dad," We chorused. Severus scowled at us, but we knew better than to be offended by his words. We went downstairs and told Lucius Malfoy all that Snape told us, and he looked visibly relieved.

"I will see him tomorrow," Lucius agreed, "And you two can get back to school, I'm sure you have a mountain of papers to grade."

"Thank the gods for time turners," I added, to which everyone laughed in agreement.

"Yes, indeed," Lucius agreed. "Good night, you two."

We all shared a group hug, which was weird to me, because it was not so long ago, that the Malfoys thought of me as nothing more than a filthy mudblood. 

When Sebastian and I settled into bed, we ended up making love briefly, and snuggling afterwards. I slept then, not really wanting to return to school where the Minister of Magic's spy was currently residing, but I had no choice in the matter: it was either continue my education, or not graduate, it was that simple. Little did we all know what the pink toad had done when Sebastian and I returned to Hogwarts from our 'holiday...'


	8. Chapter 8

Sebastian

"What the fuck is this?!" I demanded when I flung the latest issue of The Daily Prophet across the conference table at the next staff meeting I attended. "Who does this self righteous bitch thinks she is coming into _our_ school and poking her nose into the inner workings of Hogwarts?!"

Flitwick squeaked, "There is no need for language Sebastian. None of us are thrilled with this, but our hands are tied in this matter."

McGonagoll cleared her throat, "As much as I find your treatment of the students to be a bit...strict, Professor Prince, I quite agree with you on this. Albus, can we not do something about this bitch?"

Dumbledore sighed, and said, "What was it your father said about letting things unfold, Professor Prince? I suggest that we lie in wait to see what the Ministry of Magic has in store for us next."

I scoffed, "Do _nothing_. That is your wise council. Need I remind you all that Fudge would like nothing more than to prove that you're a possible quack?"

"Careful, Prince," Dumbledore warned, his voice going cool. "I like you, and you're just as valuable to me as your father is, but I could let it slip that sneak out to visit your student wife, and--"

"Ooo, I'm _really_ scared," I challenged, "Oh no, the Headmaster of Hogwarts is going to use a dark wizard's wand on me, and all because he thinks I'm an arrogant asshole. Keep it up, Albus. I can make your precious lions life in my classes a living hell."

"And need I remind you that I am your _boss_ , boy?" Dumbledore growled.

I smiled coldly, which made all of the teacher's flinch from the hate coming off of me in waves. "Oh, I'm sure you could fire me for a time, but Lucius Malfoy is my godfather, and as I recall, he has a governing position in the Ministry of Magic, but I will tell him of our little chat, and he would love to either replace you with himself or my father as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Now, I have a job to do, unlike you people."

I turned on my heel, and left the conference room. I did my classes for the day, and noticed the first edict from the pink toad: All school clubs and teams are hereby disbanded. I saw her telling off a boy for wearing sagging trouser pants.

I flicked my wand, and the boy's pants belted itself to his waist, but his underwear was officially halfway in his ass. "Thank you, Professor Snape--oh, sorry, you do look quite like your father," Umbridge greeted me, and noticed my wedding band. "I'm sure it's an easy mistake to make in your case."

I shrugged, not really caring, "Yeah, I get that a lot. May I ask the source as to why the Ministry feels the need to inquire into every aspect of the running of Hogwarts?"

A venomous smile spread across her toad-like face, "Why to quell this nonsense of You Know Who back at large. Honestly, there are other evil wizards to occupy the auror office's time, I can assure you."

"I'm just here to substitute for my father until he gets back from his holiday in the U.S," I lied smoothly. "I trust the Ministry has no issue with the way I run my classes."

Again, that smile, "Oh, heaven's forbid, no. I find your strictness refreshing, in all honesty. More teachers here should follow your example. You aren't on my hot list, dear."

"Thanks for that," I said, "Well, I have papers to grade. If you will excuse me?"

I left before she could say anything else, and set down to do just that. Most of them were essays with the most poorly written drivel I have ever read. I scrawled a T on a great many of them, and set aside the papers with disgust.

I took a shower, and changed into some fresh teaching robes for dinner. At the teacher's table, I could only watch my wife from afar. She occasionally glanced at me, and blushed. She wrote out a brief note, and when the dinner feast came to a close, she subtly handed it to me. 

The note said: _I'm going to hide in the broom closet. Sneak me in, I have a need for you. --H_

I grinned at the letter and burned it in the nearest fireplace as I made my rounds for the night. When they were done, I sneaked Hermione into the Slytherin common room, and into my room. 

We put up silencing charms, and all night we had some wild, explosive sex as soon as we reached the bedroom, although our clothes didn't quite make it to the bedroom. We were snuggling in the bathtub when I pulled her on to my lap, and impaled her on my length. We both revelled in this closeness together, the feel of our bodies becoming one as we made love over and over again. 

We slept until early morning, and then I had to sneak her out before Filch, the Prefects, or Umbridge saw my wife. We had to be careful, and I hated the need to sneak around like being married was a crime, but it was all Dumbledore's fault for preventing us being given our marital rights, and I would make his precious lions suffer for it, mark my words... 


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione

If anyone had any doubts that Umbridge was trying to make everyone's life difficult at Hogwarts, there was no more doubt when, after two months of evaluating the teachers, Professor Trelawny was officially fired from her position at Hogwarts. I hated her classes, don't get me wrong, and she was an old fraud, but the very public way in which she was fired was shameful.

Parvati and Cho Chang, who were particular favorites of Professor Trelawny seemed out of sorts when I sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. "Parv, what's wrong?"

Parvarti looked at me like I had gone daft, "As if you don't already know!"

"Know what?!"  
"It's Professor Trelawny, she," Cho put in, "She...well, she didn't pass Umbridge's evaluation, and she's getting the sack. Honestly, Hermione, you've got the inside track, didn't your husband tell you already?"

I shook my head, "Uh, no. Professor Prince doesn't talk about his work day to me."

Cho chuckled, "Humph, well, then I guess there might be trouble in paradise, after all. It must be nice to have such a perfect life, _Madame_ Prince. You know, rich, sexy husband, awesome grades, a teacher for a father in law. But then again, you'll do anything for a perfect grade, won't you, Hermione?"

I couldn't believe Cho's audacity! I didn't think she had anything against me, but I guess that I was wrong. 

" _Excuse_ me?" I asked, stepping up to her. "If you're insinuating that I'm somehow a slut, you have got another thing coming."

Cho smirked at me, "Yeah? Well, it wouldn't surprise me if you were sleeping with both Snapes to keep your OWLs in top condition. You want to be careful, or a certain _interested_ reporter that we both know, would just _love_ to hear about your sick, _personal_ sex life, _Madame_ Prince."

Cho smiled, a smile of pure malice, and hatred, as she left. Parvarti flashed me a look of apology and then joined her friend. 

Parma, her twin sister sat down next to me, and said, "Dont worry about Parvarti. She's just crazy jealous that you're not even graduated yet and you have this seemingly perfect life."

I hugged my friend, and she hugged me back. "It's not perfect, Parm. Sebastian and I...I'm sorry, _Professor_ Prince and I, can't even be together while at Hogwarts, and he has to act like his dad while teaching his classes. We have to sneak like criminals to even see each other. Does that sound like a perfect life, Parma? Really?"

Parma shook her head, "I'm so sorry Hermione. I couldn't imagine living like that. I mean, I haven't exactly told my parents about my little problem, and all. They want me to marry whoever they pick out for me, and who cares if I don't like guys?"

I knew Parma was gay, of course. She told me she was in confidence way back in second year, and apart from her trying to go out with me once or twice, we remained friends after that. 

"No one has a perfect life, Parma," I said plainly, "No one. I don't know why she would even think I would have some bizarre three some with my husband, and his dad. Eww."

Parma finished up her porridge, and chased it down with pumpkin juice. "Yeah, well, let me try to talk some sense into my sister, and maybe, just maybe, she won't go blabbing on to Rita Skeeter about this sick fantasy of hers."

A crowd was gathering out of the Great Hall, and in the center of the courtyard was Professor Trelawny. Old, half blind Professor Trelawny clutching her carpet bag, and wincing from Umbridge's malice. 

"...Please! Please...You can't..." Trelawny was crying pitifully, "You can't do this! Hogwarts is my home! I have nowhere else to go!"

"I'm sorry, dear," Umbridge said with feigned sweetness, "But according to my reports, you have proven to be too incompetent to teach, and so I must fire you. Crying about it will not make this any easier, and--"

"What is the meaning of this??" Dumbledore demanded, striding out of the castle, looking like he was about to fly into a rage. No one had ever seen the Headmaster so angry in our entire lives, it was quite terrifying. 

Professor McGonagoll and Sebastian, his black teaching robes flying about him like bat wings, trailed behind the Headmaster. 

Umbridge, to her credit, did not back down from Dumbledore's venomous gaze. "Ah, Albus," She said in her sweet, professional voice, "I was simply firing your most incompetent, and very unnecessary divination teacher. She wanted to raise a big fuss, and draw the attention of the entire school. I have full authority from the Minister of Magic to fire Hogwarts employees as I see fit."

Umbridge drew a paper from her suit coat, and handed it to Dumbledore, but McGonagoll snatched it out of his hands.

"Minerva, please, let me read it," Dumbledore instructed calmly. McGonagoll handed it to him, and he read it, his eyes growing more cold. He crumbled it up and shoved it into Umbridge's hands. 

"Sebastian, kindly get the students back to their classes," Dumbledore instructed. "Minerva, please escort Sibyl back to her quarters."

"Albus, you know I have full authority to fire--"

"Oh, I am aware that you have this authority, Miss. Umbridge," Dumbledore said coldly, "You may, of course, fire any employee you deem unworthy of employment here at this school, but you do _not_ have the authority to demand that they leave the school grounds; that authority lies with the Headmaster alone."

Umbridge simply smirked and said, "For now."

Sebastian got the students under control in his stiff, controlled manner. He found me, and he asked, "What's wrong?"

I revealed my memories to him, and he pulled me into a quiet corridor. I broke down into tears, and he held me close, running his fingers through my hair. I simply buried my head into my husband's chest, relishing the feel of his strong arms around me. We didn't speak for a long time, and we didn't have to. 

"It will be fine, love," He soothed, his velvet voice purring in my ears, "Really. I happen to know a little fact about the pink toad no one but a legilimens knows."

I lifted my head to meet his beautiful black eyes. "And what is that?"

"Oh, just that she and Fudge are more than colleagues, and it's a big no no in the Ministry or--"

"Anywhere," I sniffed, wiping at my eyes. We both smiled at that. "So, that's why you've been buddying up to her. How is dad?"

"He will be back tomorrow," Sebastian said, relieved. "Thank the gods for that. I think I understand why he drinks half the time. Luckily, I have you to take the edge off the stress. But, not a word of this to anyone, alright?"

I grinned, "Of course. Go work. Do you think I could sneak into bed tonight?"

Sebastian pulled me close, and kissed me deeply. His tongue teased my bottom lip, and I opened for him. 

We kissed passionately for a bit, until he pulled back, regretfully. "I..I can't, darling. Not with Umbridge on the war path, but think of me tonight, as I think of you every night."

"I love you, Bastian."

  
"And I love you too, Hermione," He kissed my hand, his lips lingering on each knuckle. "Never doubt it, even when I have to be harsh in class."

With that thought, he left me, and I wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all. I was a student, yes, but I was a legally married woman, damn it! I felt like such a criminal, sneaking around like this! But with the divination teacher fired, we had to be especially careful in light of the outright filth that Rita Skeeter began writing about me and my family...


	10. Chapter 10

Severus

The dour potions master did not want to return to Hogwarts for so many different reasons. But he chose to return, because he knew that it would be of a gross irresponsibility on his part to place the stresses of his entire job on his young son's shoulders. His son had a young wife, and needed her, no doubt. He could not just lounge at the Prince Mansion and get a tan while the pink toad decided to turn the management of Hogwarts on its ear. But what really made him decide to end his holiday were the damned Rita Skeeter articles:

_The Slut Of Hogwarts_   
_By: Rita Skeeter_

_I regret to write to you, my dear rabid readers of some shocking, disturbing, and frankly, disgusting news that a solid source of mine has recently come forward to share with your friendly, persistent reporter._

_Fifth year Gryffindor Hermione Granger--Prince, a very plain, homely looking witch, has not only managed to corrupt not one Hogwarts teacher into giving her straight O's on her OWLs, but now I have learned the astonishing truth as to how:_

_She sleeps with both the son and father! Both of them are esteemed Slytherins, and Professor Snape happens to be the Head of that House._

_Well, I for one, do not know what will happen next at this veritable brothel of a wizarding school, but you can be sure that your friendly reporter will be getting to the bottom of the cauldron on this. Your friendly neighborhood reporter Rita Skeeter reporting.._.

Severus threw the tawdry trash in the fireplace in the living room, laughing bitterly. The whole notion of him having a three some with his son's wife was ridiculous, and completely false, of course, but sheep will believe anything these days. 

He went to his closet, and magically packed his things for Hogwarts. After that, he showered, dressed in his teacher robes, and packed what potion supplies he needed in his school laboratory. He had no doubt that Sebastian kept his personal stores in its usual organized manner, and if not, he would tan the boy's hide. Adult or not, he would have his lab and stores kept to its immaculate, organized state, or else. 

He left a note to the house elves to keep the mansion and grounds clean, and packed away his house key in his robes. He walked out to the apparation point, and disapparated to Hogsmeade village. The Spring air was crisp, hinting at an early Fall, but none of that mattered to the potions master. He strolled up to the gates of Hogwarts, and found Filch standing guard.

"Thank th' gods yer comin' back, dungeon bat," Filch drawled, unlocking the gates. "The place has been tossed like a ship in a stormin' sea. Much as I likes this Ministry spy, she's kinda goin' too far in how she's doin' everything."

Severus sighed, "Is it too late for the dinner service, Filch?"

"No, it just started," Filch informed him, locking up the gates behind him. "But um, Umbridge has been on th' warpath evaluatin' teachers left n' right. So watch that acid tone o' yours, Snape."

Severus grinned wolfishly, "Yes, well, we must always watch our p's and q's where the Ministry is concerned, of course. I can find my own way, Argus, thank you."

Severus walked his usual fast pace up the hill to the main courtyard, and into the Great Hall. As soon as the doors opened, the entire school it seemed, paused in what they were doing to watch him stride up to the teacher's table. The Slytherin table was cheering and clapping, but all of the other school tables seemed to be groaning that 'the dungeon bat,' had returned. 

He didn't care. Sebastian was grinning from ear to ear, and he rose and hugged him openly. He hugged his son back, and tousled his black hair as if he were a kid again. Sebastian laughed, and father and son sat next to one another. Food filled his plate magically, and Dumbledore saluted him with his gold chalice. He saluted the old fool right back. 

"Thank the gods you're back, dad," Sebastian said, as the Great Hall settled back into its usual routine around them. "Have you read the trash Skeeter is writing about me and Hermione?"

"Yes, I have," He said, exasperated. "And we're going to put a stop to it."

"How?"  
"By getting Dumbledore involved," Severus answered. "Number one, this separation between you and your wife has to stop, and number two, we will all tell the truth about this matter, and if the bitch continues to slander you and your wife, well, we can hint at prosecuting her for slander, the same as if we were muggles. As I understand it, it is a serious crime in muggle laws of every country."

Sebastian agreed, "It sounds great dad, but just one thing, you're up for being evaluated by Umbridge tomorrow, so be on your toes for that. Sibyl was already sacked quite dramatically recently, and I've been playing nice with Umbridge to keep us both employed, so please don't screw it up, dad."

"Oh, I don't plan on it. Don't you trust your old man?" Severus asked.

Sebastian grinned, "Not a chance. I know you too well for that bullshit. I'm no lion or badger."

"That's my boy," Severus agreed, feeling a burst of pride in his son. He would never tell his son how much he loved him, of course, that would be unmanly, but he did love him, he was the one good thing to come out of his poor excuse of a life. 

He finished his dinner, and he reluctantly greeted his daughter in law with a perfunctory hug. He could do no more in public, naturally, and they both knew it. Everyone departed for dinner, and he got ready for bed, deciding to unpack his stuff later when he was feeling more rested. He had the pink toad evaluating him in his first class, and he needed to be sharp for anything that might happen, anything at all...


	11. Chapter 11

Severus

Umbridge sat towards the back of the first potions class Severus had, and kept his mannerisms impassive as he taught his class. Sebastian helped out the slower students in the class, but not in gentle, coddling manner: he too expected high standards in his classroom, and he brooked no nonsense or silly wand waving while class was in session. He would never tell his son that he was proud of him, of course, but he was, every day, and he loved him so much it hurt at times. 

He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, and when he asked if the class had any questions, Umbridge lifted up her pink gloved hand up, and gathered her clipboard. 

"I understand that you first applied here for the Defense Against The Dark Arts position, did you not?" She asked.

"Yes," He answered stiffly.  
"And yet you were unsuccessful?"  
"Obviously."  
She made a few notations on her clipboard, and the rest of her interrogations revolved around the running of the class, and why certain unorthodox potions were taught to the upperclassmen. He answered them all in his stiff, unctuous manner. 

Umbridge smiled, "Thank you, Professor Snape. Well, I shall get out of your hair, but I must admit that I expected more disorder than I found in your classroom. I find it refreshing."

With that, she turned and left the classroom, her heels clicking loudly on the stone floors as she walked away to go harass another teacher. One of the Weasley boys laughed, (who can  
really tell them apart any way?) and Severus smacked him in the back of the head with his potions textbook. 

The class piped right down after Sebastian gouged even Slytherin House for laughing at Weasley's outburst with the removal of a hundred points. "Care to make another clever quip?" Sebastian asked the class, raising an eyebrow. "No? Good. Get back to work."

When dinner came and went, he went with his son to Dumbledore's office where Hermione was already having a spirited argument with the Headmaster. Not for the first time, he knew for certain that Lily would have liked this girl. But then again, if his wife had lived, he would have had a daughter as well so there was that. 

"...Miss. Granger, I'm sure we can come to some understanding," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Actually, Professor," Severus said, stepping into the office beside his son, "I am with my son and his _wife_ on this. They have every right to share living space with one another. As you recall, I married young myself."

Dumbledore scowled, "Yes, I do vividly recall that, Severus. And she still died. I'm trying to protect Miss. Granger from Voldemort."

Sebastian crossed his arms across his chest, "Oh, do tell me how my having my _wife_ in my quarters endangers her? My half brother is no longer a student of Hogwarts, and I am now bound to protect my wife from any and all dangers. Please tell me how I am to do that when she is halfway at the other end of the castle, and I am in the dungeons?"

"It's not proper--"  
"I'm staying with Sebastian from now on," Hermione stated bluntly, "I don't give a fuck if you give me a hundred detentions, drain Gryffindor's House points dry, or expell me as a student. I am of age, I am married, and you _will_ address me as Mrs. or Madame Prince. Good night, _Headmaster_."

The three wizards in the room were stunned when Hermione left the room. Severus smiled, a new level of admiration and respect filling him, in regards to his daughter in law. She had won the argument on her own. Good. He never wanted his son to marry a stupid damsel in distress anyway. 

Dumbledore sighed, "Very well, Sebastian. I will allow it, but know that you two place me in a very precarious position. I cannot guarantee your safety if Umbridge finds a way to usurp my position here."

"Understood, sir," Sebastian said, following his wife down the stone steps to wherever she had headed off to. 

Dumbledore asked, "She's quite the tenacious one isn't she?"

"Leave her out of your schemes, old man," Severus growled. "I'm going to go grade papers and do my job, unlike some people around here."

He left, and went to his office and did just that, smiling to himself that at least this one thing he had done was done right. He just prayed that it remained that way, of course. As the year progressed, no one could have foreseen that the agent that the Minister of Magic put in place at Hogwarts would rise as Headmistress of Hogwarts itself...


	12. Chapter 12

Sebastian

The meeting room was rife with tension as I made my way there after afternoon classes. Dad had a mass of papers to grade, so much so that I had to cover his afternoon classes for him. All of the teachers have been working tirelessly, which made for a very stressful working environment to say the least. I too had my own studies in my advanced potions studies, and my father was just as much of a relentless teacher to me, as to the other students at night. He sometimes pushed me past my own capabilities, and I grew in my knowledge exponentially as a result.

I handed in my latest essay last night, and my father said, "It's a pity I don't have ten of your like in my classroom, son. You work your ass off half the time."

"Thank you, dad."  
"I was merely stating a fact," My dad said after the scratching of his quill, "Don't let it go to your head, boy. You're a damned good student, and you whip the students into shape when you teach. If I had ten of you, I wouldn't hate my job half as much as I do."

I kept my mouth shut on that. I understood his crabby mood, because of the pink toad. Dumbledore was summoning us at night to this meeting, which was highly unusual, because if we did have a meeting, it was always early in the morning, so it was clearly important, or he wouldn't be summoning all of the teachers, save Umbridge to the meeting room. 

McGonagoll and Dumbledore were the last to the meeting, and by their grave faces, I could tell that this wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting at all. 

"Please be seated," Dumbledore said somberly. "It appears that our worst fears regarding Hogwarts has happened, and the Ministry of Magic feels that my laid back way of running the school is unacceptable. Umbridge will be replacing me as Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"This is outrageous!" Flitwick squeaked angrily. "The Ministry has gone too damn far, Albus! You _must_ fight this. She will run this school into the ground, and turn it into a pale shadow of what it once was. We need you here, Albus."

There was a lot of agreement to Flitwick's words. But Dumbledore looked to me, and said, "Sebastian, you are the only one among us who was a student when I was Headmaster here. Do you agree with the Ministry? Or with Filius here?"

I hated being put in the spotlight, but I swallowed my dislike, and said calmly, "I agree with Filius, Albus. I think you should fight this. I thought you were a good Headmaster, a bit too biased to your own House, but still good. I try to strive for equal punishment in my classroom myself, and not show favoritism, but that's just me."

"Well, you certainly are strict," McGonagoll quipped sharply. "I didn't think that anyone could be feared as much as you, Severus."

My father chuckled at that, shocking everyone in the room. "Yes, well, someone has to keep the idiots in line, don't they, Minerva?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Quite right, Severus. Now, on to other business."

The meeting ran later than all of us intended, and we all said our goodbyes to our boss. Over the next two months, Umbridge did, indeed, reach her nasty pink claws into every aspect of Hogwarts. Quidditch was no more, no more choir practices, no other miscellaneous clubs like chess club, or gobstones club, no drama club, which I loved as a student myself. 

Last of year exams were hellish on the students, and even though I had my own personal studies with my father, they were nothing compared to what the students were being put through. Hermione and I still saw each other secretly, but the Slytherins were loyal to us, and turned a blind eye to Hermione becoming a sort of surrogate Slytherin by sleeping in my quarters every night with me. 

But then, Cho Chang caught Hermione sneaking into the Slytherin common room, and of course, Umbridge heard about it, and me and my wife were dragged in her disgusting pink office to be interrogated about the rumors of my wife having a three some with me and my father. 

"I don't _have_ to submit to anything," Hermione spat at Umbridge. "I'm not. Repeat, _not_ sleeping with my godsdamned father in law. I don't care what Rita Skeeter writes about me, honestly, Headmistress. I'm not violating my vows, or sleeping with Elvis or aliens, or whatever nonsense she chooses to write."

Umbridge looked stunned by Hermione's words, as she drank her overly sugary tea. "And do you deny that Miss. Chang caught you sneaking into the Slytherin common room?"

"No, I do not deny it," Hermione said boldly. "I'm a married witch, and I was going to bed."

"But you are not a Slytherin."  
"Should that matter?" I asked. "Certainly, the portrait doesn't care. Slytherin likes her, in truth, she's one of the few witches he's polite to."

Umbridge nodded. "Well, I would like to believe you, Hermione, dear, but I simply must put these rumors to rest. If you agree to drink veritaserum, and you are being truthful, I will leave your marriage alone. But if not...well, you know what they say, 'if you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to hide.' "

"Fine," Hermione decided. "Give me the drug. I will prove that Skeeter is a slanderous bitch."

"Are you sure, hon?" I asked my wife. "You know the consequences, right?"

She flashed me an angry look. "I'm well aware of the consequences!" She snapped. "Give me the drug. Now."

I took a vial of veritaserum, and poured a few drops of it into her tea cup. Hermione drank, and her body began to jerk slightly as the drug took effect. When she had calmed down, I said, "Okay, you can question her now."

Umbridge grinned, and asked, "Are the rumors true that you are in an affair with both your husband and father in law?"

"No."  
"And are you part of any illegal after school groups?" Umbridge asked.

"No."  
"I see," Umbridge breathed a sigh of relief. "You may give her the antidote now, dear."

I gave Hermione the antidote, and Umbridge became sweet, and kind, "I will deal with Miss. Chang in due course. But before you go," She pulled out the sorting hat. "If you insist on living in the dungeons, I have to see if a change in uniform is in order for you."

I placed the sorting hat on my wife's head, and it came to life. "Hmm...an interesting case being resorted. But I see much cunning in you, and smarts as well. It better be...Slytherin for you!"

I took the hat off her head, and for the first time since meeting the pink toad, I thought we had ourselves an ally. She shook both of our hands, and said, "I will vouch for you both, you can be sure. Now, do be sure and fill in your order form for new uniforms Mrs. Prince."

"Thank you, Headmistress," Hermione said happily. "I will be happy to do that right away."

We both left the Headmaster's office in good spirits, and after classes, we celebrated in our own private way in our private rooms together, openly, at long last...


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione

When Headmistress Umbridge learned that I was, indeed, telling the truth about the rumors, because of the veritaserum, she went on the warpath. Granted, she was a hell of an enemy to have, but she was a useful ally as well, and I was glad that she was on my side for a change. 

Classes became harder as the year wound down, and I was more thankful than ever for the timeturner, because otherwise I would have never managed it, and still stayed sane. Sebastian wasn't much better off, because of teaching and his private classes, but at least we saw each other every night, and unlike most of the students and staff, Umbridge was leaving us alone. 

Then there came the day Cho Chang was expelled from Hogwarts. Cho, and a handful of students, took it upon themselves to form a Defense Against The Dark Arts club called Potter's Army. Seamus Finnegan led the group, which was shocking, because he never struck any one as the leader type. Nevertheless, they formed this little group, and Cho was interrogated about this, and about my marriage.

She admitted that she slandered me, because she had a crazy crush on Sebastian, and didn't think it was fair that I was able to 'snatch him in her claws,' is how she phrased it. She was jealous and thought that if she spread the vile rumors that it would force me and Sebastian to get a divorce so she could have him to herself. My father in law showed her no mercy, and corroborated the story, saying that if Miss. Chang was in his House, he would have expelled her immediately. 

Her exit from Hogwarts was very public, and in the middle of dinner. I was sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating dinner when Umbridge marched down the open aisle to the Ravenclaw table, and pulled Cho's ear, and dragged her out the door of the Great Hall. She screamed as if someone was murdering her, and as the Great Hall doors closed behind the pink toad, and her prey, we all followed to see what the fuss was about.

Cho's parents were there to pick up their daughter, and as Umbridge explained the situation, Mrs. Chang slapped her daughter, hard across the face. Cho was practically dragged off campus, and Umbridge turned to us.

"Let this be a stern reminder to everyone that slander and gossip will not be tolerated at Hogwarts," She announced. "Now, get to your common rooms. Dinner is over!"

We all fled to our common rooms, and I had to go to the Slytherin common room alone, because my husband was busy with his classes. 

When he came in, he looked tired as always, and asked, "What was all the fuss in the Great Hall earlier? I had to have dinner with dad, because of my exams from Luteins."

Luteins is the most prestigious wizarding academy for potions and alchemy. I was astonished that Sebastian was already being examined by them already. I had heard that that was where Snape got his own potions master licensing, so to be able to be examined by their potions masters was a real privilege and honor. Of course, the workload was stressful and challenging, and the formulations to the potions complex and sometimes strange. 

"Cho Chang was expelled tonight," I explained. "Umbridge really made it this big, public affair, and of course, the other Gryffindor kids are in trouble for forming that dark arts defense group earlier in the year. I'm actually surprised that it took her this long to find out about the club until now."

Sebastian grinned, "Yes, well, I'm sure that being Headmistress can't be an easy job without McGonagoll's help. Come, I really need a soak in the tub after my exams."

I became excited by this, "Are you done with your exams already?"

Sebastian undressed. "No, just for this year. I am being tested every year, and even with dad's help, even I can't make heads or tails out of some of the formulations. The first year's testing was relatively simple, because it focused on what muggles know of chemistry, which is quite a great deal, surprisingly. I just pray that none of them learn how to achieve their same goals magically, because then the word will all be in for a real world of hurt."

I undressed as well, and despite my tiredness, I couldn't help but stare at my husband's nakedness. He was both lean and strong, stronger than he looked, with hands that could snap a neck in half in seconds, or be so gentle you could almost forget their strength. The additional thrill was that he was all mine, mine completely. I followed him into the bathroom, and I marveled somewhat at his personal comfort in his own skin, because until I got married, I always thought that I was ugly, or too skinny to tempt any guy into being intimate with me. 

The tub was full, and he got in, turning on the jets. I followed, and soon we were bathing each other. His fingers running through my scalp felt like heaven as I felt my headache from the day lift. He rinsed my hair thoroughly, and then put the conditioner in. I washed his hair in turn.

"Mm, that's nice," He commented. "Although, it would be nice if you rubbed lower."

"Perv."  
"But you like it."  
"Ugh, do you want me to wash you or not?" I asked, feigning disgust. Sebastian laughed softly.

"My apologies," He smiled, "Do continue. You know your hands work their own magic on me."

I lathered him up, using the loafah, and my own hands. I massaged the back of his neck, his broad shoulders, back, and when I got to his front, I decided to be naughty and use my hands. Our eyes met, and damn, if his black eyes didn't darken even further with lust. My breathing hitched as I ran my hands over his chest, and licked around one nipple and then the other, swirling my tongue in just the way he liked it.

"You play a dangerous game, witch," Sebastian growled, cupping one of my breasts in one hand, and pulling me on to his lap with the other, and cupping my ass.

He teased my nipple with his teeth, and tongue, and I arched my back, my breathing speeding up. He suckled the other breast, and I couldn't breathe after that. 

"Oh, Sebastian..."  
"Stroke me," He purred in my ear. I obeyed, continuing my southward explorations, and stroking his semi hard cock underneath the water; it quickly stood to attention, and I slid it inside of me. I wrapped my legs around him as our kissing turned passionate and rough, my hips moving of their own accord as I moved up and down on him, faster and faster, my body relishing the delicious feel of being filled so completely by my husband. 

Sebastian ran his hands up and down my back, stroking, caressing up and down my spine, as he bucked his hips, increasing the delicious friction between us. Water spilled every which way as we came closer to our releases, and when we came almost at the same time we held each other close as we always do.

We stared into one another's eyes, needing no words between us to convey the depth of our love for each other. We soon got ready for bed after that, and curled up in bed, totally exhausted and satiated at the same time. Little did we know of what awaited us next year in terms of staff changes, and how that would impact all of Hogwarts in the coming months...


	14. Chapter 14

Severus

Coming out of the Ministry of Magic courtroom felt like a small victory for the potions master of Hogwarts, because not only was Dolores Umbridge seen to be guilty of sleeping with the Minister of Magic, but that Rita Skeeter, that tabloid journalist of the Daily Prophet was finally brought low. 

He was glad that his family came with him, and that they had a hand in bringing these two scheming, backstabbing witches down several pegs in the social order. They all celebrated at the Prince Mansion, but during the party he noticed that Hermione was not feeling well when the cake was brought out. Sebastian was busy socializing with his friends, and so it was up to him to investigate just what was wrong with his daughter in law. 

He knocked on the door of the master bathroom, and he heard her shout, "Just a second, I'll be right out!"

"Take your time," He answered quietly. Quiet descended in the bathroom, and then the unlocking of the door. Hermione opened the door at a crack, and peeked out.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I thought you were Bastian, or Blaise, or Nott," She answered. She opened the door, and flushed the toilet. He came in, and noticed the pregnancy test box on the granite countertop, but didn't comment on it.

Severus rose an eyebrow, looking sternly down at her, and waited for her to speak. She bit her bottom lip, and sighed, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you what's wrong, but please don't tell Bastian', I only suspect that I may be pregnant."

His eyes widened ever so slightly at that. _A Grandfather! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, fool,_ he chided himself sharply. _Did you really expect your son to not want to fuck his wife any chance he got?_

"For how long have you been feeling ill?" He asked clinically, as he would a potions calculation in class. 

Hermione blushed, and he scowled, "Oh, for heaven's sake, witch. I'm not judging you on your bedroom activities with my son. I was merely asking you how long you have been feeling nauseous, and sickly."

She took a deep breath, and said, "For...for two months on and off. It began not long after school let out for summer break. I..." She blushed again, "My periods have always run kind of late, especially when I'm stressed out about exams and such, but when they kind of...um, stopped, I began to get worried I might be pregnant."

Severus nodded, and looked at the muggle pregnancy test. "Well, apparently, your fears are grounded in reality."

"What??" She snatched it out of his hand, shocked. "Two lines. What about school? Oh, this is going to be so embarrassing, me sporting a damn bump in school under my uniform! What will everyone think?!"

_Gee, Grandpa, say something asinine and hurtful, it's all you know how to do in these types of situations_. "You can always do a glamour spell to hide the bump, you know that," He suggested.

Hermione nodded, and tossed the pregnancy test in the wastebasket. There was a chance Sebastian could find it there, but what was that to him? Gods, he needed a stiff drink right about now. 

"Thank you, dad," Hermione said, hugging him. He didn't want to hug her, not at first, but some tender part of his heart seemed to thaw, and he wrapped his arms around his daughter in law and hugged her back. 

He quickly held her at arm's length, and said, "Well, you can tell Sebastian in your own time, I suppose, but in the mean time, I'm going to get a stiff drink. I don't relish the thought of being anyone's grandfather."

Hermione laughed, "Oh, hush, dad. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later."

He grinned slightly, "Perhaps. No alcohol, and limit the caffeine, that's an order from me. Do you understand?"

She smiled, "Yes, I'm aware of some of the health measures. I just didn't expect to be pregnant while still in school is all."

"You're in your sixth year," Severus shrugged. "Don't be surprised if you see more witches in your class with round bellies. It was the same in my year."

Hermione chuckled, "Yes, and Lily was no exception, or so I heard."

Severus grinned slightly at that, "Yes, well, apparently the apple doesn't fall so far from the tree in terms of history repeating itself."

He left her there to ponder his words, and went to the den to get himself a stiff drink. A grandfather! He never thought that he would see the day when that would ever happen. The fire light of the cozy, rustic fireplace cast grim shadows across a blown up wedding photograph of a younger him and Lily on their wedding day. 

He saluted the gold framed picture. "Well, our son has finally done it, he has made us grandparents, Lily. I hope wherever you are, you are proud of them."

He tossed back his vodka and savored the burn going down his throat. Oh, Lucius was just going to love this farce, him a grandfather! If it were not a strange reality, he would be laughing right about now. But on the same token, if he ever perished by the dark lord's psychotic hand, his family would continue long after he was a corpse, and that brought the war weary wizard some small measure of comfort. The only thing he wanted most right now was Lily. He knew that she would be over the moon with joy that their son was going to be a father. 

Tears rose to the potion master's eyes, and he wept anew for his lost love, and for so much time together that the despot stole from him. He drank long until the night before passing out on the den's brown leather sofa, a glass of vodka spilled on the rug, and the glass itself rolled off to somewhere, and that was how he was found the next morning after the party upstairs... 


	15. Chapter 15

Sebastian

The thestral carriage dropped me and Hermione off at the main entrance of Hogwarts, and as soon we arrived, I could feel the unease in the school like some putrid sickness hanging about the place like a dark malaise infecting everything. 

"Do you feel that?" I asked my wife. She nodded, and shivered, not trusting herself to speak, it seemed. 

"It feels...like evil."  
"Exactly."  
Her hands flew protectively to her stomach, a gesture I noticed immediately. I took her hands in mine, "This isn't just unease and nervousness about the new school year, is it?" I asked.

"No," She admitted. "I...I'm a bit scared of You Know Who's influence. But I mostly am scared because, well, I...I'm pregnant."

I felt like my heart flew into my throat at her words. I knew that she had been acting strangely for going on two months, but I assumed that it was stress, and I put it out of mind, because I had so much to occupy my own time. But that was a shitty excuse, I should have been focused more on my wife and been more attentive to her. 

I cupped her cheek with one of my hands and lifted her face to meet my eyes. "Are you certain, darling?"

Hermione nodded, "I took a muggle test at home, and it came back positive. I've missed my period two cycles in a row, and I have been feeling kind of sick in the mornings, so I'm definitely pregnant. Your father knows, he looked at the test himself."

I sat back in the carriage seat. I raked a hand through my hair. No wonder my dad was drinking more, or acting weirder than usual. He was shocked by becoming a grandfather, and stupid me, I didn't have a clue that my wife was pregnant. Was I really that damn unobservant, or dense? I didn't think that I was. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked as gently as I could, but some of my annoyance must have been revealed in my tone, because Hermione winced at that. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I'm not mad at you, love, but, I would like to know why you didn't tell me."

Hermione sighed, wiping at her eyes. "No, I would be mad with me too. I just...I didn't want to burden you more with all of the other stuff you have going on. Also, I...I didn't think you would be happy finding out about it."

I hugged her closely. "Oh, lioness. No, gods, no. Why would this anger me?"

Her eyes went wide at that. "We haven't exactly talked about this before it...well, happened. We're both so busy. Me with school, you with teaching, and your own potions classes, and then all of the craziness in the wizarding world. Your dad off on his spy trips, and Harry and Draco off in Bulgaria at Durmstrang. I just didn't think a child would fit in with all that is going on."

I nodded, understanding, "Hermione, we will figure it out, okay? I admit that I didn't want kids, but we haven't exactly played it safe, and now that one is on the way, I'm kind of glad that we're having a child. But most of all, I'm glad that you will be my child's mother. You will be an excellent mother, I know it, my love."

Hermione beamed with happiness at that, and she kissed me happily, "I love you."

"I love you too," I said, and rubbed her still flat stomach, "And whatever you are, I love you too."

"Ugh, it's a fetus, not a thing."  
"I know, I'm kidding."  
"You better, Mister."  
I laughed, hugging my wife. I helped her out of the carriage and we made our way inside the castle, and not a moment too soon, because it decided to pour just as we stepped inside the castle entryway. 

I kissed her as we separated to go to our separate tables, and as I sat down at the teacher's table, there was a triumphant smirk in place on my father's face as I sat down next to him.

"Did she tell you?" He asked.  
"Yes," I said, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "And you better not lecture me about it."

My father smirked, "What's the point... _daddy_? You will hate the burden soon enough with all of the shit going on."

I scowled, "Whatever. Just because you're a prick half the time doesn't mean that I will be to my kid."

"Time will only tell."  
"Whatever, dad."

Dumbledore got up to speak, having been recently reinstated as Headmaster of Hogwarts after the whole Umbridge debacle last year that shook Hogwarts to its very foundations in terms of how it was run. 

"I have a few start of term announcements," Dumbledore said, "We have a few changes to our staff this year. Number one is that Professor Snape shall be taking the position of Defense Against The Dark Arts, and the position of Potions shall be taken by an old friend and colleague of mine, who has graciously agreed to come out of retirement, Professor Slughorn. Good luck, Professor. Also, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me once again to remind all of you that all Weasley's Wizard Wheezes has been banned from campus, and that the third floor corridor is forbidden to all who do not wish to suffer a most painful death. For other banned items, please see his list tacked outside his office for further details.

"Now, on to a more serious topic: why you were all searched tonight. Well, the fact of the matter is that the deatheaters are growing daily more bold in their attacks, and I would like to remind you all that their greatest weapon is each and everyone of you, our future. Now, tuck in, and enjoy the feast."

Dumbledore sat down, and the Slytherins cheered at the news of their Head of House finally getting the job of his dreams. No wonder my father was looking so damn smug. Slughorn, a man with a huge walrus-like mustache, and looked like he weighed one too, saluted me, grinning politely. What the hell?! Would I not be teaching this year at all?

When the students were dismissed, I cornered Dumbledore and asked, "Am I teaching at all this year, sir? I'm not sure what is going on."

Dumbledore sighed heavily, and said, "It is not for me to say, Sebastian. But your father needs your assistance with his missions, and that is the reason why your classes were so heavy last year."

A heavy sense of dread lowered itself into the pit of my stomach. "I...I can't do it, sir. My wife, she and I," I licked my suddenly dry lips. "We're...um, expecting, and if I become a deatheater, it won't bode well for her being a muggleborn."

Dumbledore looked even more sad, and understood. "I understand. But you may have to do it for the greater good, Sebastian. Do you know what I mean by that?"

"I do," I replied, feeling hollow. "But I want to be there for my family."

"I understand. But you may not have a choice in the matter," Dumbledore said, sadly, "I am truly sorry. You have to believe me on that."

He went to hug me, but I shrugged off his hands. I turned on my heel, and stormed into my father's quarters, and saw him calmly grading papers.

"We need to talk," I demanded.   
My father looked up from his parchments, and nodded, "I will pour us the firewhisky, we will both need it."

We then both sat down to talk long into the night, and my father finally talked about his secret work in the Order of The Phoenix, and why I was needed as another pair of eyes into the deatheater world at this stage of the wizarding world that was infecting the entire world as a whole, not just the small wizarding world around us...


	16. Chapter 16

Sebastian

My father handed me my glass of firewhisky, and he set his glass aside, and unbuttoned his left sleeve, and revealed his Dark Mark tattoo that he got as a teenager. It looked darker in color, as if it was newly inked, and not faded as one would expect a year's old tattoo to look, particularly on the forearm. 

"The ink grows darker as the dark lord grows in power," My father answered. "In the days of his greatest power, it was a way for his followers to know that he was near, and that he would summon each of them soon."

I sipped the ridiculously strong whisky. "But if you had me and mom, why did you even join them, dad? Every time I have asked you that, you always evaded my questions."

My father nodded, "I know. I have kept so many secrets from you, and from your mother. About where I was, what I was doing. I told her that it was a necessary evil to leave her to protect her, and that was true, but in truth, it was because I was a fucking coward, son. I knew she was pregnant, that we were too young to be parents when we made you during our Yule Ball. I married her to give her my mother's name, and to give her some of her pureblood prestige. I wouldn't soil your mother with that muggle bastard she married.

"I had a very fucked up childhood, Sebastian. I never wanted that for you: to not wonder where your next meal was going to come from, whether or not your old man would come home sober, or drunk, and beat or rape your mother in front of you. Then, there was my sixteenth birthday, where he shot your grandmother in front of me, and he..." My father broke off, and tears rolled down his cheeks. I moved to comfort him, but he shook his head. 

"Don't," He snapped. "I don't _want_ your pity. You wanted the ugly truth, and I'm giving it to you, all of it. Your grandfather was a sick, sadistic asshole, son. He raped me, okay? Granted, he was drunk, but he was too strong for a skinny teenaged boy to fight him, and of course, being underage, I couldn't very well kill him for it. I never wanted to turn into him, to be that evil, abusive bastard that made you hate me with every action I took."

"So you left mom," I surmised. "But she loved you dad. Every night, she cried into her pillow, and it wasn't just because Potter turned out to be like your dad. I don't love Harry any less because his dad was an abusive prick, I pity him, actually."

My dad looked at me, genuinely surprised. "Does he know?"

"Yes."  
"I imagine he didn't take it well."  
"He was mad at first," I admitted. "But when he figured out I wasn't being an ass about it, he got over it. I want to know why you need me. I don't have any intention of leaving my wife, I trust you know that."

"I understand," My father said. "I would say the same thing in your shoes. But I can no longer be in two places at once, son. I finally have the job the dark lord wanted me to have, and you are just as competent in magical defense as I am. I will ensure that your wife is protected."

I sneered, "Oh, I'm sure I have an idea how you will do that, dad. You're _sick_. She's half your age. You must be delighted I broke her in for you. I'm just as much a Slytherin as you, so I'm not fucking stupid. Eliminating the competition with the least path of resistance. It's clever, truly. Unfortunately, you forget that I know you're a closet nympho like myself, dad."

My father laughed bitterly. "I don't want your Gryffindor wife, boy. But I guarantee you that if I did, I would have fucked her already. She's too...brunette for my taste, shall we say? Blondes have a special place in my heart I have to admit, tall and statuesque blondes with a tight trim and ass. Oh, and red heads, of course. Your wife is safe from me."

I relaxed somewhat, realizing that my father was being truthful. "Can I think about it?" I asked after a long pause.

My father nodded, "Take as much time as needed, and do your studies. I need that batch of Living Death made and in my lab for grading by tomorrow. I need to show Slughorn how a competent potions master makes a batch of the poison."

"But I'm brewing it."  
"Exactly. We will each brew a batch to see if the old fool can tell the difference who made it," My father chuckled. "Cheers, Sebastian. Welcome to my world. This conversation stays between us, do you understand?"

"I understand."  
"Good. Drink your firewhisky. It steadies your nerves, I have found," My father advised.

I left his quarters unsettled, but not angry with him as I initially was with him for so many years. I felt like I finally understood him, and I found it no wonder why he kept so much of his true nature private. I went back to my quarters, and took a shower, and got ready for bed. My wife was already in bed, and I got into bed, and threw a protective arm around her and her occupied belly. I stroked her flat belly, and pressed a light kiss to Hermione's cheek. 

She laced her fingers through mine in her sleep, and I eventually was lulled to sleep by the black lake outside of the dungeons, and the sound of my wife's steady breathing. My family was safe..for now. But if I did nothing, was I as much a coward as those who are already going into hiding? I realized then that I would do anything to protect my family, and if it meant becoming a spy, then that was what I had to do, for the greater good...


	17. Chapter 17

Sebastian

When I finally reached my decision regarding my decision to become a spy or not, I realized that if I did nothing I was nothing more than a pathetic coward, and I was far from that. Hermione deserved more than that from me, to be more than a generic husband and father to our child. No, what she needed was a true warrior. What more could I do to avenge my mother's and sister's deaths? 

I ruminated on this decision for six months. I was kept busy enough to think very, very carefully about the pros and cons of what my father wanted from me. He had essentially told me to not be a coward, and fight for my family, but it warred with my desire for peace and to raise my family.

I sat in on a few of Slughorn's classes, and found that the old potions master was a quack. True, he was more hands on with his classes, but he had this lazy way of running his classes that I never would have tolerated. I had two years experience teaching, and his ridiculous bias with Slytherin House was beyond pathetic. He seemed to flinch when I glared at him for allowing talking out in class, chewing gum, and the like from getting out of hand.

Then a smile of triumph crossed my face when Minerva came into class to evaluate, and she confided to me as we sat through one of Slughorn's classes: "I hate to admit that you are better at keeping the kids in line, Sebastian."

"Thank you, Minerva," I whispered back, grinning. Then she raised her voice, "Professor Slughorn, if you would allow, I think I would like to see Mr. Prince handle the next class."

"As you wish, Professor McGonagoll," Slughorn said genially. 

The other class filed in, and I put on my Professor persona, and strode to the front of the classroom. The students were already rowdy.

"Silence!" I shouted over the noise. "There will be _no_ foolish wand waving, or incantations while in this classroom. You will reserve your questions until lecture time."

I went through Slughorn's notes and said, "Today, we shall be brewing Living Death. Now, myself and Professor Snape have already brewed a batch recently. Do come up and see what a proper batch looks like."

I took a spoon and stirred my batch. I lifted it, and said, "You will notice that the potion is as clear as water. It also has no taste, and will have no odor to distinguish it from water."

Crabbe was about to put his finger into my father's batch, and I said curtly, "Kindly refrain from touching the potion, Crabbe. It would peel back the layers of your skin instantly, leaving you with nothing but bone."

Goyle and some of the other Slytherins sniggered. "Detention, Goyle, McNair, and Greengrass. Let's see, that's 300 points from Slytherin. My, are we making such a bad impression on our House."

I dropped two leaves, one in my batch of Living Death, and the other in my father's. They crumpled up and turn to ash instantly. 

"And which one was brewed by you, Mr. Prince?" Slughorn asked.

"That is _Professor_ Prince," I stated firmly. "And if you cannot follow my instructions for the remainder of the class, you will be asked to leave."

"Well! I never!"  
"Professor, do try to determine which of us brewed the poison," I repeated firmly. "Me, or Professor Snape?"

Slughorn knew that I was showing him up, and so when he got flustered and pointed to the left cauldron, I allowed myself a smirk to flash across my face. "They...they both are brewed perfectly," He defended his answer. "I don't know...I can't tell who brewed which one."

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," I said as patiently as I could. "You may sit down."

I wrote down the ingredients on the blackboard, and lectured in depth about its importance, and why each ingredient was essential to brewing the potion exactly as demonstrated. I took questions from the students and took off points for those who got too rowdy, or who decided to question my authority. When class was over, I assigned in depth homework on the potions covered, with extra points towards creative thinking. 

Ron Weasley, of course, being a friend of Hermione's, decided to play on my love for her by saying, "You know, you could cut me some slack, Prince, since I know Hermione wouldn't like this side of you. It must be like an inherited gene, you know, being a bloody git, just like Professor Snape."

McGonagoll and Slughorn were watching me, evaluating me, so I forced down my anger, and grinned wolfishly. "That's funny, Weasley. Truly. I'll be sure to tell my _wife_ that you tried to play upon your so called friendship with her. Or is it the fact that she is useful to you? I can't decide. But you just cost yourself three weeks detention, Weasley, and 500 points from Gryffindor for attempting to play teacher's pet."

Ron got red in the face, and realized that McGonagoll and Slughorn were watching. "Git," He muttered.

"What was that, Weasley? I don't believe I heard you," I taunted.

"Nothing."  
"It had certainly better be," I said sternly, "Because if you had interfered in class the way you just did, the consequences for you and your House would be quite severe. Now, get out of my sight."

Ron Weasley scurried away, and I turned to my colleagues, raising an eyebrow. Slughorn was not pleased, nor was McGonagoll, but then again, she always had a problem with my strictness while teaching.

"I must say, sir, that you certainly are just as strict as your father," Slughorn concluded, "I almost expected a rash, unprepared boy in the classroom, but you run the classroom with an iron fist, I must say."

I grinned, "I do not tolerate misbehavior in my classes. My father taught me that when I was a student. You may, of course, have your classroom back. But I do not, as a rule, go hands on with the potions in my class."

"I like the demonstrative quality it brings to the class," Slughorn informed me, sticking out his barrel chest self importantly. 

"Yes, well, it also encourages fatal curiosity, Professor," I pointed out. "Now, I have potions classes myself to attend. If you will excuse me, Professor Slughorn?"

I left without a further word, and went to my classes with my Luteins instructors. I needed to see my father, but of course, both him and Dumbledore were nowhere to be found on campus, which troubled me...

✂------- 

I sat beside McGonagoll at dinner, and she looked troubled. "Minerva? Are you alright?" I asked gently.

She jumped at her first name, and shook her head. "I...Can I tell you about it after dinner, Sebastian?"

I patted her hand, "Of course."  
"Thank you."

The end of dinner soon came, and Hermione approached me and asked, "Is Professor McGonagoll alright? It's not like her to be so distracted and sad."

I kissed her forehead as I hugged her. "That's what I aim to find out," I promised. "Dumbledore isn't on campus, and neither is my father, but at least with my father, I know it's a mission."

"But how can you be so _calm_ about it? Your father could be hurt, or worse," She pointed out.

"Hermione, I can't afford to worry," I explained carefully. "I love my father, you know that. But in a wartime situation such as this, worrying will only get you killed. Do you understand?"

She nodded, "I fear you will leave just like him, and never come back."

I pulled her into a deserted corridor and sat in the window seat. "Hermione, I may just have to assist my father in his efforts."

She touched her belly that she glamoured to stay flat. I know that next month she would be ready to give birth, but I feared for being there for our child if I died in the war. We wanted to keep it a mystery what the gender of our child was, but since I had decided to fight, I really wanted to know if I had a son or daughter. 

Hermione cried, "You...you _can't_! Sebastian, _no_. I'm about to give birth next month. You can't just leave, we need you here."

"What kind of wizard would I be if I just let my mother and sister remain unavenged?" I argued. "Hermione, that psychotic asshole killed my _mother_! He killed Rose!"

I moved to hug her, but she wrenched herself out of my arms. "And killing Voldemort is going to bring them back is it?! It won't, all it will do is just cause you more pain. Bastian, please don't leave me. I can't lose you..." She sobbed, "I..I love you too much."

"I can't promise that, love."  
"Then what good are you?" She asked, and ran from me as I tried to call her back. I wiped at my own tears, and tried to still the emptiness that I felt in my heart..

✂------- 

I went to McGonagoll's office, and found her sitting by her fireplace petting one of her cats. She looked sad, and completely lonely. But she looked strangely younger with her hair down out of its usual tight bun.

I cleared my throat. She looked up at me, and said hoarsely, "Thank you, for coming to see me, Sebastian. Albus thinks you're a bad seed, but you're good, just like Severus. I worry about your father more than anyone would know. Please sit down. Don't mind Coco, she's curious about everyone."

I smiled down at the blue eyed chocolate Siamese cat that was nudging my hand. I sat down in the wingback chair, and Coco curled up in my lap. "I don't mind, I like cats," I said, petting her soft head and neck. "They choose who they give their affection to, and trust. We have that in common."

Minerva smiled sadly, "Yes, I know. I had thought you would be bad for Miss. Granger, but it appears that you dote on your wife. I wish I could say I had that kind of love."

I knew what she was getting at, but I didn't dare press her. "I love Hermione very deeply. Probably too much, but I may very well have to fight in this war."

Minerva sighed, nodding, "I never told Albus that I loved him, you know?" She teared up, and she wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I have loved him for so many years. Even when we were students here ourselves. But I just never got the courage to tell him, and now, I fear that it's too late. I'm too old, we both are."

I stroked Coco's sleek fur, and she batted at my hand playfully. "Can I ask you why you never told him? I know it's personal, but I feared Hermione wouldn't want someone four years older than her, and I stayed friends with her for so long before I finally asked her out."

She smiled, "It's because of Gellert Grindlewald. Him and Albus...well, they were...close."

"He's gay, isn't he?"  
"No, bi, dear. But I just...I never wanted to come between them," She explained, "It seemed wrong somehow, and after Albus became Headmaster, and made me Deputy Headmistress, it seemed wrong to confess that I was in love with my boss."

I smiled, "How do you know he doesn't feel the same way? Listen, even if he rejects you outright, you will know where you stand with him. We are at war, but what better time to tell our loved ones that we love them?"

She reached across the distance and held my hand. "I will keep your advice in mind, and--"

There was a frantic beating at the office door, and McGonagoll got up to answer it. Coco jumped off my lap and hid somewhere. Madame Pomfrey burst in, and shouted, "Minerva! Come quick! It's Albus, and Severus...they...they've been hurt bad."

We followed the med witch to the hospital wing, and there we saw my father and the Headmaster beaten and bloodied badly. I immediately sprang into action, and began healing them both. I didn't sleep until late that night, but one thing did not change: my resolve to fight for my family and their right to be free of Voldemort's tyranny forever...


	18. Chapter 18

Sebastian

After my father and Dumbledore healed from their wounds and were released from Madame Pomfrey's care, I told them that I would become a spy, but not until after my child was born. My father approved, and so did Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore told us about how he found Merope Gaunt's family ring in her grave, but it cast a terrible wasting disease on him that he knew was killing him like a cancer from the inside out. It had taken hours to destroy the ring, but in return, it left this curse upon his body, of which only Voldemort himself knew the countercurse to. 

Dad was working on Dumbledore's arm when I came into the office, and handed my father his blood replenisher potion. Dumbledore had his sleeve rolled up, and dad was casting spells over it. 

He finally sat back, and shook his head. "I can't stop it," He said. He saw me come into the office, and said, "Thank you, Bastian.' Drink this, it will help keep your blood clean of the toxins in your body."

Dumbledore unstoppered the lid of the vial, and drank it. Color filled his face again, and he asked, "How long do you think before..."

"Before it kills you? Six months at least, maybe less," My father reported. "It's difficult to say. I managed to contain the curse to your hand. But you're a damned fool! You Gryffindors and your damnable pride. Your recklessness is going to get you killed."

"I will do what I must to ensure that we win this war against Voldemort, Severus," Dumbledore said, firmly. "Can you honestly tell me that you haven't done the same?"

My father scowled, "Fuck you, old man. I have lied for you, killed for you, and now, you want me to sacrifice my son on the altar of your agenda. I think not."

"But I _want_ to help the cause," I argued. "What kind of wizard would I be if I simply let evil go unchecked? My family deserves better than that, dad."

My dad glared at me, "I refuse to sacrifice you, Sebastian. I lost your mother, your sister to him-"

"What sister, Severus?" Dumbledore asked curiously. "I don't understand."

A triumphant smile flashed across my father's face, "That's right. Just as the muggle courts were finalizing Lily's divorce, we were carrying on an affair. On the night the despot killed my wife, I saw in her bathroom waste basket the discarded pregnancy test that read two lines. My son later told me that his mother told him that she was carrying a girl. So yes, Bastian's sister Rose."

Dumbledore looked sad, and he said to me, "I think that you can do a world of good, Sebastian with being a spy. But are you certain that you wish to do this? I know that you have a child on the way. I know that I asked this before, but I want you to be absolutely certain before you proceed."

I thought of Hermione, of our child, of dad, the Malfoys, even Harry came to mind. _Harry would do the same for you, you know that_ , he thought. I turned to face the two wizards in the room, and said, "I am certain. But I still want to see my child first like I said before."

My father looked like I just struck him, but he accepted it. "I will inform your Uncle about this, and we will proceed from there. He is a spy as well, but I am the only one who reports to Albus directly. Since we will be working together, that will include you as well. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand."  
"Good. Now, go spend time with your wife," Dad ordered. "I believe that she needs you more now than ever."

I nodded, and he nodded back. We never hugged in public as a rule of thumb, but I felt his love for me, and it comforted me. 

I left Dumbledore's office that night, and went to my dorm, where Hermione was in the small study area slumped over her homework, sleeping heavily. Gently, oh so gently, I picked her up, and put her in our bed like a child. In private, she removed the glamour that she put on in public to keep her belly looking flat, and now she looked huge. One more month, I thought. One more month until we had our baby. 

I got ready for bed, and when I slipped into bed beside her, she moved beside me, and sleepily murmured, "Mm, how long was I out?"

"I just got back from a meeting," I confessed, "But when I saw you sleeping in the library here, I put you to bed."

She yawned, "Thank you, Bastian.' Oh!" She jumped in surprise.

"What is it?" I asked.  
"The baby just kicked," She explained. "Do you want to feel?"

"Of course."  
She took my hand, and pressed it to where a steady kicking sensation could be felt. I knelt down, and kissed her huge belly. 

"Shhh," I soothed, "Your mum has to sleep, little one. And so do you, darling."

Hermione chuckled, "Your voice is like your dad's. It has that velvety soothing quality to it I have always loved. That settles it then, you are officially the lullaby singer to our kids."

I kissed her temple. "Oh? We're having another one? When will this be happening I wonder?"

Hermione chuckled, "Well...I was hoping that once I recovered from this one we could, like, try for another baby. What do you say?"

I yawned, "We'll have as many kids as you want. I promise."

"Thank you, Bastian.' "

We soon fell asleep after that, and I felt terrible to not tell her about what my sketches recently revealed: about my father being attacked by a snake, and me being powerless to save him. I prayed that I would be able to save my father from this fate. But then again, when was life or fate ever kind to a Snape? I had to be gone from my family, and possibly to die for the greater good. In the end, exhaustion claimed my restless mind, and I slept uneasy, my dreams just as unsettled as my mind and heart. I just prayed that I was wrong, very wrong about this...


	19. Chapter 19

Hermione

I opened my eyes, and came out of the darkness of being put under so that I wouldn't be in pain from the labor. My baby was crying for me, and I knew by my surroundings that I was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts.

Madame Pomfrey was there, and so was Sebastian and Professor Snape. My parents, of course, couldn't be there, because of the magical wards, of course. My legs felt absolutely numb from the waist down, it felt so weird.

"Ow, remind me how weird this feels the next time we have another kid," I teased, groaning from my bed.

Sebastian laughed, "Uh huh, but you already told me you want another one, I can tell."

"Shut up," I chuckled, "For how often we get it on, it will happen sooner or later."

My father in law scowled, "This is something I did not want to hear from you two. Perhaps you should be knocked out again, Hermione?"

Sebastian laughed, "Whatever, dad. You know you love us."

Snape's lips curled in amusement, "That remains to be seen, and it has not been proven."

Sebastian and I chuckled at that, and a pink skinned baby wrapped in a sky blue blanket was placed in my arms by Madame Pomfrey. I looked down at my child, and saw why my husband and father in law were in such a jovial mood...well, jovial for Severus Snape anyway, since I have never known him to be outwardly effusive in his emotions. The baby I held in my arms was a boy. 

I unbuttoned my medical gown, and my son immediately began to suckle. "Well, hello little one. I almost wanted a girl, but you're a pleasant surprise," I said to my suckling baby.

Sebastian sat beside me, and asked, "Can I hold him?"

"Be my guest," I said, tucking my breast out of the way. Sebastian held our baby, and our son opened his eyes, and stared at his father before laughing.

Sebastian smiled, "He definitely has more of your effusive qualities. But I think he looks more like a Prince."

Snape looked down at our son, and remarked, "Gods help us all he has inherited my nose."

"Oh dad, I never thought your nose was ugly," I said, grinning, "It would look ugly on someone shorter, for example, so I think my son will grow into his looks a bit."

Snape grinned slightly at that, and Sebastian handed the baby to his father. My son tugged at his black hair, and giggled. Snape smiled, a more genuine one this time, and he handed it to Sebastian. 

"Well, I have to get back to teaching," He remarked. "Sebastian, there are papers for you to grade as well."

My husband rolled his eyes, "Sure, dad. I'll be there as soon as I can."

When he strolled out of the hospital wing Madame Pomfrey huffed, "I would think he would be happy to have a grandchild. I know I would be if any child of mine gave me a grandchild."

"Oh, he's happy," Sebastian explained, "But you would never know it from how he expresses himself."

But the mediwitch didn't look convinced, "Yes, well, you two know him better than I do, I suppose. So, have you two decided on a name? He cannot be released to you unless you name him."

I looked at Sebastian, and he took out his wand and cast, "Legilimens."

He closed his eyes, and then ended the spell. "He told me that his name is Gabriel. Is that a good name, dear?"

I looked at my son, and smiled fondly, "I think it sounds about perfect. Gabriel it is. I would never name a name they didn't want themselves."

Sebastian soon left me with our son, and I finished up feeding Gabriel. Madame Pomfrey then took him away so that I could sleep. But when I woke the next day, I was told that my husband had indeed gone to join the deatheaters. 

I knew that he was doing it as a means to spy on the Order of Phoenix, but it was dangerous, and I feared for him. I had tried to keep him with me and our son, but to no avail. For better or worse, I had to live with the knowledge that my husband was risking his life to bring insider information to the Order. But in return, he had to kill muggles, and magical people like me, muggleborns, and act like he delighted in the act. 

When I was released from the hospital wing, and returned to my classes, I had my Prince house elves look after Gabriel when I was bogged down by classes and studying. I did these things in order to graduate as soon as I possibly could, but also so that I could be there for my son in a way my muggle parents could not be for me. 

I also knew that I had to visit my parents one last time, and for them to see their grandson, because with Sebastian gone, and fighting where others could not, I knew that it would be the last time that I would ever see them in this life again now that things were moving to their logical end, and that was a final showdown between Lord Voldemort and the wizarding world itself. Only time would tell which side would win, but one thing was for certain, this war had to end, one way or another, and I wanted to be there to see it unfold either way...


	20. Chapter 20

Sebastian 

One Month Later...

I was given a month with my family, and then I was told that I had to do the initiation, or risk having missed a 'grand opportunity,' is how Barty Crouch Jr put it. Whatever. I didn't care, I just wanted to kill whatever poor, unfortunate muggle that proved that I was worthy to be inducted into the ranks of the deatheaters. My father prepared me well in advance, but I never dreamed that they would make me kill someone important. Who was this target? None other than the Prime Minister himself.

My father scowled at the orders, especially since he was a part of this initiation. He had tried to argue against this, but the despot would not be moved. We had to assassinate the Prime Minister at a seminar for world peace of all things.

"How did you handle killing on that psycho's orders, dad?" I asked when we arrived back at Hogwarts.

My dad said, "Think of it more like you're killing enemy soldiers than innocent people, Bastian. We're at war, and you have to start thinking that way from now on. Live and fight for your family. Do you understand?"

I hugged him, and said, "Yes, it does. It helps a lot, actually. So, I just go in masked and cloaked, and kill him, outright?"

"That would be the usual plan, yes," My father said, "But it will be dangerous. He will have not just muggle security surrounding him, but also aurors disguised as his usual team."

I paced my father's spacious quarters, and swore under my breath. "It's a godsdamned suicide mission. The psycho wants to test me to see if I can live through this."

Dad nodded, his expression thunderous, "Exactly. Think of it as a passive aggressive way of killing you without dirtying his hands. It's cowardly, but anyone can be killed."

I grinned wolfishly, agreeing, "Yes, anyone. So, what is the plan?"

"We make a grand show of looking fearsome with our masks, and kill the minister before the aurors kill us," Dad said. "Or get shot with muggle bullets. I don't know about you, but I don't wish to die by getting shot. Once was enough in my leg."

I winced at that. "Well, let's get some sleep, and go look fiercesome at this fancy seminar the Prime Minister is hosting, shall we?"

My father grinned, "Yes, let's."

We shook hands on that, and I left to retire to my own quarters. I attended to Gabriel, and had dinner with Hermione. But I never mentioned my mission. From now on, I had to keep that part of my life secret, and apart from my personal life. 

I went to bed after writing my wife a letter, and enchanted it to only be able to be opened upon my death. I had no illusions about my chances of survival. The dark lord wanted me dead, and it was something that I knew for a long time. My mother Lily tried to protect me by sending me to live with the Blacks. My father tried to protect me the entire time that I attended Hogwarts, and he was trying to protect me now. 

If I was caught, I would spend the rest of my life in Azkaban. But if I made it out of there alive, then I would be highly honored among the deatheaters, and even be granted some level of respect. I didn't care so much about that, just getting the mission done, that was all that mattered to me in the end. I went to sleep that first night, and slept fitfully, because I worried about Hermione and our son. What if they could be in danger from all of this? Who would care for them if I didn't make it. It would have to be Draco or Harry, I trusted no one else with my family's safety.

I later slept easy, and when I awoke the next day, I felt easier in my heart than before, and that was because I had hope, hope for the future. For without hope, I didn't believe that I could get through this, and live to tell the tale. My last thought was for my family, only my family, they were the only ones who mattered, and I promised myself that I would fight for them, or die trying...


	21. Chapter 21

Sebastian

The conference hall stood like an elegant opera house dead center of London. I had long since put on my black and silver deatheater mask, and dad wore his bronze mask. We wore black cloaks over our robes, and even though I felt better in my spirit about what I was doing, I still did not feel that this muggle deserved death. 

"Are you ready to do this thing?" My father asked me pointedly.

"Does this man truly deserve death, dad?" I asked. "I mean, really deserve it?"

My father sighed, "No, but you have to do this in order to blend in with the deatheater ranks. Remember what I said last night about hard choices in war?"

" 'There are no easy choices, only orders to follow,' " I quoted. "So..I should think of him as the dark lord?"

My father chuckled, "Yes, indeed. Now is the time to use your hate to your advantage. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I nodded, taking a deep breath, and getting out my wand. He produced his wand as well, and we crept stealthy and quick as shadows. We had invisibility charms upon us to get us through the doors of the place. 

The so called important social climbers were all present as the thin, middle aged Prime Minister walked up to the podium to speak. I had to be the one to utter those two fatal words, and I could not use a gun on the muggle, the despot had been very clear on that point in his orders to me. I was to use the killing curse, and the crazed psycho had the nerve to reassure me that muggles couldn't detect magical traces in a dead body. 

The politician began to speak, and I cast the fatal words when I was close enough: "Avada Kedavra."

Green magic flew from my wand, and hit the Prime Minister straight in the heart. It was a perfect shot, one to be proud of as a deatheater, but I felt far from proud. In fact, I felt a bit sickened that I had to commit murder, and of course, I would have to do it more than once. 

Everything happened all at once as aurors lifted the invisibility charms, and my father and I ended up duelling the six aurors that the Prime Minister had hired to protect him. My dad was hit with a stinging jinx by the second to last auror, and I had no choice but to kill them both. 

The muggle security tried to swarm us, but I apparated us to Malfoy Manor, and Uncle Lucius rushed towards us, and demanded to know what the hell happened.

I told him what happened, and Lucius nodded, understanding. He helped me to bring my father to his usual guest bedroom, and as we laid my father on his bed, Lucius said, "The Dark Lord is proud of you. He just sensed what happened and is all giddy with joy."

"Oh, joy," I remarked sarcastically, "And I suppose that I should just be bouncing off the walls with excitement over that. It was sickening killing that innocent man."

Lucius sighed, "Yes, I know. I'm not a fan of muggles myself, I'm more like Grindlewald on that, the dark wizard before Voldemort. But this is war, Sebastian. We both have family's to fight for as fathers and husbands."

I was surprised by my Uncle's perception, "And...and you don't hate me for marrying a muggleborn?"

Lucius smiled, "Of course not, no. Your father married one himself, remember? But keep that knowledge secret from the others, especially when you receive your Dark Mark."

I shivered at that, and not in a good way. "Does it hurt?" I asked.

"Yes, it burns."  
"Just what I thought."

We left my father to sleep, and the few deatheaters that were there to live full time at the mansion all clapped me on the back, and congratulated me for a job well done. Soon, a little party sprouted up out of no where, and I made a show of drinking the wine and firewhisky, but partaked of only one glass each. I made of show of getting completely wasted, and made my excuses to go up to bed. 

I took a hot shower, and got ready for bed. It helped, but I knew that it would never wash away the blood completely from my hands. For better or for worse, I was a double agent for Dumbledore, just as my Uncle and father were. I would have to watch my back, and after I received my Dark Mark, things would never be the same for me ever again. But then again, is life ever supposed to remain stagnant and the same for any one, really?

I had to live for Hermione, for my family, they were all that mattered in this world, and I would go through hell itself to make that happen. Always...


	22. Chapter 22

Sebastian

Three Days Later...

The deatheaters stood like solemn dark sentinels as my father and I walked into the main Malfoy drawing room where Lord Voldemort waited for us. The room was crowded, because it certainly wasn't every day that a wizard killed a Prime Minister, and several seasoned aurors as well, in order to avoid being arrested, and shipped to Azkaban. 

I caught Draco Malfoy's eye in the crowd, and he gave me a nod of respect, and sympathy. He had already gone through this ceremony over the summer, and he didn't envy me one bit. Voldemort was easily dressed the most shabily compared to his followers, but no one could mistake his air of authority over the group of dark wizards and witches in the room. 

My father knelt before Voldemort and I followed suit. Voldemort lifted back his hood, and he looked like some kind of nasty red eyed golemn with sharp claws, and impossibly pale skin. He looked a little like that vampire in Nosferatu almost, only I don't think he had rat teeth for fangs. He looked down at me, and tried to enter my mind, but I blocked him easily.

"Ah, a skilled legilimens," Voldemort said approvingly, "Yes, I see the family resemblances clearly, Severus."

"Thank you, my Lord," My father said quietly. "My son was most brave on the mission. He did not hesitate to kill the Prime Minister or his auror guards."

Voldemort chuckled, it sounded cold and haunting. "Indeed, indeed. Well, you have proven yourself worthy to stand among us. But I must ask you, Sebastian, why you wish to join our ranks?"

I had an excuse planned out the night before, and I knew it required a lot of acting on my part to pull it off, but now that the hour had come upon me, I felt very put on the spot, what muggles called stage fright. 

I looked at my father, then at the Malfoys, and they all encouraged me on silently. I cleared my throat and said with feigned confidence, "I believe muggles are a cancer on our society. I myself have noticed it while teaching at Hogwarts, that the muggleborn witches and wizards simply cannot compete with those of pure magical blood. They cannot do the work. I feel that they should be enslaved, and made to do the work of house elves, and be subjugated by us all who possess true magical blood."

Murmurs of assent ran through the room, and Voldemort smirked, "An intriguing, and most welcome theory. Your suggestions are most welcome, Mr. Prince. Now, do you swear to serve me as your Lord and Master?"

"I do, most emphatically," I forced myself to say. Luckily, an Unbreakable Vow was not required. 

"Then hold out your left arm," Voldemort ordered. I rolled up my sleeve, and I knew what was coming, but nothing prepared me for the pain, nothing. I bit back my pain, and retreated deep into my mind when the burning sensation of being marked got too much. In the end, I didn't make a sound, nor even cry out for the pain to stop. 

I looked down at my left forearm, and the skull with the snake slythering inside its mouth was seared into my flesh. It did burn like hell, but my hatred for this demonic despot went deeper, far deeper, and I would use it to bring this monster down one of these days. I swore it on all that was holy that I would have a hand in his death if it was the last thing that I did in this life...

🔱-----

The burning pain of the Dark Mark tattoo faded over the course of the next two months, and I was given high ranking missions to kill other muggles in high positions of political authority. Sometimes, Draco came along on these missions during his school breaks, at other times, Uncle Lucius or my father would help me. But we always gave our reports to the Order of Phoenix whenever we could, and I regretted not being able to tell Hermione about this part of my life, but I told her only what I could, and what wouldn't compromise my cover. 

She understood, and as I watched our son Gabriel grow, it all came to a head during what would be Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts...

🔱------

Harry Potter returned after Dumbledore's death at my father's hand their sixth year, and at first, he was enraged that his former Headmaster was killed by my father. I quickly explained why it was necessary, and that it was actually done on Dumbledore's orders. 

Harry calmed down, and decided to hunt down horcruxes with Ron, and Draco. 

"We could probably use your help in getting these things," Harry said, on his last day at Malfoy Manor. "I mean, you are more friends with Draco than I am."

I hugged my half brother and said, "I can't. I have a cover to maintain as the creepy dungeon bat's son. Take care of my cousin, Harry, and yourself, alright?"

Harry laughed, "You know I always do, man. I'll see you around, brother."

I smiled, "You too, Harry. You too." 

I went home to Prince Manor late that night, and I kissed my son good night in his crib. Hermione came into the nursery, and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. 

"We should make another one," She whispered in my ear. "I'm ready to try if you are."

I turned around in her arms, and kissed her softly, "Are you sure, love? I would be more worried about you if you did get pregnant again."

She looked at our son sleeping peacefully on his back in his crib, and then back at me, "Some things are worth the risk, Bastian.' Just like you going out there and spying within the deatheaters for the Order meetings. I want another child, so much."

I caressed her cheek, and said softly, "Then we can definitely try. I know I wouldn't mind a little girl. Just as long as she has your brains, and eyes."

She smiled, kissing me, "Thank you, my love. You're too good to me."

I kissed her hand, "Oh, no. That I could never be. But come, let's go and try tonight, I've been longing to do so for a long time."

I led her down the hall to the master bedroom, where we made love tenderly all night long. I didn't think once about having to start the next school year with my father as the new Headmaster, or about my brother and cousin risking themselves in order to weaken Voldemort from within. No, all I thought about was my wife, and how much I wanted to show her just how much she meant to me through every touch, kiss, and caress of our bodies as we became one once again...


	23. Chapter 23

Severus

The End Of Year Seven...

With the chaos going on the Hogwarts grounds, no one noticed that the dour potions master had slipped away after that iconic fight between Severus and Professor McGonagoll. Giants, acromantula spiders, werewolves, even zombies were attacking the students and teachers of Hogwarts who would not side with the despot. Fire and spells were being cast left and right. But it was oddly peaceful down by the boathouse, and he steeled himself for this last, final encounter, because he had the distinct feeling that it was, indeed, his last fight. 

Voldemort was idly playing with his wand, and whispering to Nagini in parseltongue. His red eyes fixed upon Severus, and he said, "Ah, Severus. You came, as I always knew that you would."

"Yes, of course, my Lord," He said carefully. "I have always come when you called for me."

Voldemort nodded, and held up the Elderwand in his hand. "I have killed so many this night, and yet, I feel distinctly that I am not this wand's true master. Can you tell me who might be?"

Severus had seen Draco disarm Dumbledore on the astronomy tower that night, but it would be dangerous, indeed, to mention that little fact. Sometimes, when the Dark Lord was in one of his calmest moods, was when he was at his most dangerous, and that scared Severus in his heart of hearts. He hated unpredictability and lapses in normalcy in any form, and when it came to the mentally ill, it was best to tread lightly with them. 

"You, of course, my Lord," Severus lied. "You have done extraordinary magic with the Elderwand tonight. How can anyone doubt who its true master is?"

Voldemort narrowed his red eyes, oh so slightly, and Severus knew that he was truly doomed, "Ah yes, but _you_ were the one who killed Albus Dumbledore that fateful night, Severus. You uttered the killing curse, sending him plummeting to his death from that tower. You have been a good and faithful servant, my friend. Such a shame you will have to die. But only I can live forever."

Severus barely got his wand up to attack when Voldemort, quick as lightning, used a hidden dagger to slice his throat open ear to ear. He slumped against the glass, and Nagini bit him three times, sinking in her fangs deeply every time.

Voldemort left, but then he saw Sebastian, Harry, and Draco come in with that idiot Ron Weasley. Why the ginger idiot was with them, he didn't know or care, he was dying. 

His son began to cry, but he weakly said, "Don't, boy. No tears for me...I'm not worth it."

Sebastian sank to his side, silent tears falling down his face. "Dad, please hold on. We...we can get you help."

Harry knelt beside him, and said, "I...I'm sorry, for hating you, I mean. Bastian' showed me your memories, and..."

Severus laughed, but it came out as a wheeze, "It's good to know that at least you all will go on."

Draco cried the most, "Uncle, please hold on. You...you're like the dad I never had...I love you."

He weakly touched Draco's cheek, "I...I know. Let me alone with...My son. Now."

The others fled, even that ginger idiot. Sebastian began to cry, and he was too weak to discourage his son to cry at this stage. Sebastian made him drink antivenom potion, and the pain dissipated somewhat as the poison left his blood, but he was dying, he could feel it deep in his bones. 

"My son..." He rasped, "Protect...your wife...treasure her...your ch-children..."

Sebastian cried, "I...I will, father. Let me get you out of here, it's not too late."

"It...it...is...I love you...s-son...so much." He rasped out. 

Sebastian hugged him close in his arms. "I know, father. I love you."

"Always...."  
"Always..." 

On the last exhale, he felt his heart stop, and blackness stole over his very senses, until he felt nothing, nothing at all. He was at peace, and so it was, that the long suffering King of Slytherin House was finally dead, but a new one would rise in his place, and he would finish what he started by bringing the despot Lord Voldemort to heel at long last...


	24. Chapter 24

Sebastian

I screamed as I held my dead father in my arms. All of my despair, love, the hardship of being a deatheater for a year, all of it seemed to pale in comparison to the pain and grief washing over me as I held my father in my arms, rocking him as I would a child. Harry and his friends found me like that, and Draco closed my father's eyes gently. 

"Bastian,' come on," Draco pleaded, "We have to go on. The Dark Lord is still out there. We--"

"I'm _not_ leaving him here like this!" I snarled. "This is the second parent I lost at that psycho's hands!" 

Harry said calmly, "Brother, I get it. I _really_ do. Come, I will help you get him to the Great Hall. Can you stand?"

I looked at Harry, and took comfort in seeing my mother's eyes. I may have only been four when my mother died, but I can never forget her soft emerald green eyes shining with love for me. 

"Okay, together," I said, and we lifted up my father with our wands, and gently levitated his body to the Great Hall where many dead and wounded witches and wizards lay strewn all about.   
People looked a bit shocked that my father was dead. The Slytherins were especially distraught at seeing their Head of House brought low in such a manner. Ron ran to his family where Fred, Remus Lupin, and Tonks Lupin, lay dead. 

McGonagoll approached me cautiously, and said gently, "You meant a great deal to him, and I...I misjudged him badly. And you, as well. I'm very sorry for your loss, Sebastian."

I could only nod my head, and stare at my father's pallid corpse before me. "So, who leads Hogwarts now, Professor?" I asked, idly cleaning the blood from his neck. "Me? You?"

She sighed, and said, "I don't agree with it, but Severus...he...he named you as his successor."

"But you've been here the longest, Minerva," I said, looking at the old witch for the first time. "I'm only twenty three, hardly old enough to be a Headmaster."

She laid a hand on my back, and said, "Severus had every confidence in you, as do I."

I wiped at my tears, and said, "Thank you, Minerva. But for now, let's make sure everyone is taken care of here, and...where is Harry, Draco?"

Draco looked up from tending Blaise Zambini's broken left leg, and said, "I don't know. Weasel probably knows, ask him."

Weasley was in tears by the time I was done questioning him, and he finally admitted that Harry had gone into the Forbidden Forest to give himself up to Voldemort. I wanted to rush off to help my brother, but I was given the duty to be a capable Headmaster of Hogwarts, and that was what I was going to do.

I stifled my grief, and organized everything so that the wounded and dead could be separated out. But I separated my father's body out from everyone else, because he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and he deserved to be treated with due respect. It wasn't until dawn that Harry Potter had come back, in the arms of Hagrid that I knew that it was left to me to finish my father's mission: to defeat Lord Voldemort at any cost, and that was exactly what I had planned to do no matter what...


	25. Chapter 25

Harry

He had comforted Ginny Weasley as best as he could when she found out that her brother Fred had been killed by a deatheater. Sebastian seemed to be lost in his own deep grief over losing his father. They found an abandoned corridor where they could be alone, and he asked her, "What do you need, Ginny? From me, I mean?"

Ginny looked at him, and said, "If...if we might die..." She bit her lip, in a cute, nervous gesture, "Do you think I could, maybe not die a virgin?"

Harry looked at her shocked, but he asked, "Are you sure that's what you want?"

Ginny nodded, "I...I've always liked you, Harry. I just...well, you're the only one I trust to not hurt me when it happens."

Harry blushed, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, that was for certain. He cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her softly, gently, teasing his tongue at her bottom lip, as he pinned her up against the wall. Ginny moaned, and he slipped his tongue in her mouth. She ran her fingers through his hair as they attacked their clothes. He was thankful that she was wearing a school uniform, otherwise pants would have been more of a hindrance. 

He took off his cloak, and laid it down on the stone floor. He gently lowered her down on to the cloak, and Harry took this time to knead her breasts, and suckle them, lightly teasing them with his teeth as he swirled his tongue around each nipple. 

"Harry..." Ginny breathed. "Please don't...don't stop..."

"I won't, baby," He promised. He trailed his tongue down her chest, into her navel, and when he got to the juncture between her thighs, he began to lick along her folds, lightly sucking them as he licked. Damn, she tasted good, like sweet honeysuckle. He flattened his tongue and licked up and down her wet slit. 

"Oh...ohhh, Harry...ohmygod..." Ginny panted, grabbing on to the cloak for dear life, as she blushed. He inserted two of his fingers into her sopping wetness and thrust in and out of her as he sucked and flicked his tongue against her clit. Ginny's breathing hitched as he mercilessly attacked her pussy over and over with his mouth, making her eyes roll up to the back of her head as she shuddered with the force of her orgasm. 

He licked off her sweet juices, especially since she was a squirter, which was a plus, in his book. He stroked his cock, and took off his pants and boxers to tease her entrance with the head of his smooth cock. He kissed her passionately as he slid himself inside of Ginny's wet, tight pussy, loving the feel of her taking him all the way in the first time.

"Ow," She remarked, "Ouch, is...is it supposed to _pinch_ like that?"

He paused in his thrusting to chuckle, "Yeah, it is. I'll go slow at first, okay?" 

  
"Okay, I trust you, Harry."  
"I know. Ready?"  
"Yes, make me feel good, Harry."  
Harry laughed, "Yes, ma'am."

They didn't speak after that as he thrust, slowly at first, into the willing ginger haired witch below him, but then he picked up the pace, and he was soon thrusting into her tight pussy like his life depended on it. All the while, kissing passionately, until he stiffened and gasped, as he experienced one of the best orgasms of his life. Ginny soon followed, and he collapsed off to the side, so as not to crush her with his weight.

A little semen leaked down Ginny's leg as he pulled out of her, but that didn't seem to matter to her. They lay back on the floor, panting and trying to catch their breath.

"That was...wow," Ginny said, smiling. "I do feel better, thank you, Harry."

He kissed her softly, and said, "You're most welcome, Gin. But I have to go finish this stupid prophecy. If I make it out of this, will you go out with me?"

Ginny began to tear up, and she said, "Yes, Harry. Of course, I will. You know I love you."

Harry began to get dressed, and she put her uniform back on as well. "I know, Ginny. I love you too. Thank you, for...if this is the last--"

She hugged him fiercely, "Oh, don't say that, Harry! Please. Please make it back for me."

He didn't want to make a promise he couldn't keep, so he simply said, "I...I will try, Ginny. Just know that I love you, and I always will, no matter what happens. Do you understand?"

Ginny cried, "Yes. I suppose that will have to be good enough."

They shared one last passionate, borderline, rough kiss, and with a great deal of effort, he pulled himself away from the only witch he ever truly loved, and walked calmly, and with purposeful steps to the Forbidden Forest to meet his destiny, come what may, no matter what. For in the end, as the prophecy said, 'neither one can live while the other survives...'


	26. Chapter 26

Harry

He found the resurrection stone in the golden snitch that he kept with him and kissed the snitch. It opened, and he turned it over. Instantly, his parents, Remus Lupin, his Godfather, and a dour faced black haired woman that could only be Severus Snape's mother, appeared. 

The black haired witch wore a faded house dress, and she said with some bluntness reminiscent of Snape, "So, this is one of the boys my son sacrificed himself for, is that right, son?"

Snape appeared, and he looked to be his age, and wearing an old Slytherin uniform. "Leave Harry be, mum. He has enough to worry about."

"Humph, well, it's a good thing your boy got some good looks," Eileen Snape said, "Did pretty boy give me a great grandkid yet?"

His mother Lily rolled her eyes, "Yes, he did. A son. Hermione named him Gabriel."

"Ridiculous name for a boy," She scowled, and disappeared. His parents looked at him with love.

"You've been so brave, sweetheart," Lily said, "If you want to come home, you know where to find me." She then frowned at James Potter, and said curtly, "Go on, talk to _your_ son."

Harry watched her go and kiss Snape, and he turned away when he caught Snape beginning to make out with his mother. Sirius and Lupin disappeared, leaving him alone with his father as the others disappeared.

"Has she always hated you?" Harry found himself asking.

James Potter nodded, "I didn't treat her very well in school. I loved her, but I was a jerk, kind of like your Malfoy friend used to be, only worse. I knew she loved Snape deeply, and they had their boy not too long after Yule Ball, but I was too obsessed with your mother to accept that she didn't want me. I'm ashamed to say that you weren't made--"

"I know you raped mom!" Harry snapped. "And guess what? You should have left her the hell alone. I'm ashamed to call you my father. _..James._ I never want to see you again."

His father disappeared, and in his place was Severus Snape at his age. Harry cried, and he hugged him. Snape hugged him back, and asked with wonder lacing his voice, "You...you would really choose me, Harry?"

Harry nodded, "Of course. As far as I'm concerned, you and Sebastian are my real family. Does death hurt? I'm curious."

Severus kissed his forehead, and let him go, "It's quicker than falling asleep, son. But if you don't make it out of this, I would be proud to call you son in the afterlife. We can be a family while we wait for the rest of our family to join us."

Harry saw his mother approach, and she wrapped an arm around her husband and kissed his cheek. "Your father and I will be with you always, Harry. We love you so much."

Harry cried, "I love you too. I never wanted any of you to die for me."

"Some things are worth the risk, boy," Severus said fondly. "You are worth everything. We love you, son."

Harry nodded, and when his mother, and true father disappeared, leaving him alone in the forest at last, he dropped the resurrection stone. He no longer needed it, because he had made his decision about his destination, and the thought filled him with more peace and joy than he had ever felt in his short life.

He was ready to die, win or lose, and he would have a family to go to who loved him more than anything else in the world, because fighting to save what he loved mattered more to him than anything else in the world, and he would die willingly, in order to do just that, always....


	27. Chapter 27

Harry

The red eyed demon that was Lord Voldemort was sniggering at him by the time Harry Potter had arrived to fight his last battle. Deatheaters waited alongside their leader, but Harry didn't care, he was resigned to his fate. 

"Ah, Harry Potter," Voldemort said calmly, pleased. "The Boy Who Lived, come to die."

Harry laughed, startling his enemy's followers, "You won't defeat me, Tom. So, if some little boy is that much of a threat to you, then go ahead, give it your best shot."

Harry lifted his hands up, without even arming himself with his wand. 

Voldemort sneered at him, "So be it. Prepare to die." He aimed the Elderwand at him, and cast, "AVADA KEDAVRA!!"

Green magic hit him directly in the chest, and he felt life leave his body. Darkness surrounded him, and he knew no more..Or so he thought...

🔱------

Light. Unbelievable brightness engulfed him, and his vision cleared. He was in a cleaner, more sanitary version of King's Cross Station. Standing to meet him was his mother Lily. 

He ran to her, and he hugged her. She hugged him back tightly. She kissed his cheek, and laughed, "Oh, my darling boy. My brave, brave boy. You have done and accomplished so much."

They found a bench and they sat beside each other. "Am...am I dead, mom?"

Lily sighed, "No, not yet. But that is all up to you, dear. Which is why I am here."

He nodded, understanding, "I think more people would be more emboldened to rebel against Tom Riddle if I am dead. If I live, well, then I get to suffer more from being a war veteran, and nightmares of the war will already haunt me for life."

His mother nodded, "Yes, I understand. I can see why you would wish to lay down your burdens. Is that truly what you desire deep down, son?"

He knew that his next answer would determine whether or not he would continue to live, or die. He thought about it for a long time, and decided that he was ready to die. 

"Yes, mom, I wish to rest," Harry finally said. "Can I come home with you and my true dad?"

Lily teared up, and she smiled brightly. "Of course, Harry. You have yet to meet your half sister Rose."

A train that looked identical to the Hogwarts Express appeared, and his mother stood up, her emerald green robes brushing the immaculate train floor. She held out her hand, and Harry took it. The train door opened, and a tall, raven haired girl with green eyes came out. She wore fashionable skinny jeans, and a layered gray longsleeved shirt. She seemed to be just slightly younger than Sebastian, but she was clearly Severus Snape's daughter in how she moved, and looked. 

Lily said a few words to Rose, and Rose turned to him. His sister's heels clicked on the train platform, and she smiled warmly at him, "Hey, Harry. I have been really excited to meet you. But I almost expected with Bastian's recklessness that I would be meeting him sooner."

"He's very brave," He answered carefully. "I think you would like him."

Rose shrugged, "Well, it will only be a matter of time. I'm not worried. Come, dad's expecting us. He's got this whole party planned with Grandma and everyone."

Their mother hugged Rose, "By everyone, do you mean Nick?"

"Mom! Gods, dad doesn't know that we're like _together_ , together," Rose said, exasperately. 

Harry laughed, "If dad's as protective of Bastian' as he is of you, he'll definitely know soon enough."

Rose grinned, "Yeah, well, keep that in mind when you start dating, baby brother, because you're like next, you know."

"I will."  
"Come on, you two," Lily said, grinning, "We're running late as it is, and we have to prepare for the party."

All three of them boarded the red steam train, and set off for a brand new eternal life in peace and happiness forevermore...


	28. Chapter 28

Sebastian

The body of my half brother Harry Potter was brought to the ruined courtyard in front of the entire school. Hagrid gently laid Harry's body down on the ground. Students began crying, and teachers were trying to calm them down. 

"Harry Potter is dead," Voldemort declared. "From now on, you are to put your trust in me. We will now accept any last minute followers."

Draco Malfoy was about to step forward, but I held him back. "Don't. We will get our revenge."

"When?"   
"Soon," I said, "Just be ready."

I nodded to Neville Longbottom, and he nodded back. Neville stepped forward carrying the sorting hat in his right hand. He was limping on his right leg, and he boldly faced Voldemort.

"Does it matter that Harry died?" Neville asked. Deatheaters laughed mockingly at him.

"And who are you, young man?" Voldemort asked. 

"Neville Longbottom," Neville answered. Bellatrix LeStrange sniggered. Others laughed as well, because his parents were tortured into madness by Bellatrix and her psychotic husband Rodolphus. 

Voldemort gestured for calmness. They immediately calmed down, and he said, "Well, Neville. I'm sure we can find some use for you in our ranks. We can---"

"I wish to say a few words," Neville said more loudly, "As I was saying: does it matter that Harry died?!" 

He turned to face the Hogwarts crowd, and I had to admire the boy's bravery. He continued, "Yes, we lost Harry last night. But people die every day. We live, we die, but what matters is how we are remembered in our lives. Harry will always live on, because he lives in here," He touches his chest, "In our hearts. And I urge all of you to fight, for your families, your friends, but also, your freedom!!" 

Neville unsheathes the sword of Gryffindor in his hand, and Voldemort screams for his deatheaters to attack and kill us all. 

I drew my wand, and bellowed over the din of the battle, "TOM RIDDLE!! COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!!"

Voldemort turned to face me, and he was seething with rage.

"So, you are a spy as some of my followers claimed," Voldemort sneered. "Well, come at me, and we will see who will die here. I already killed Harry Potter, and your pathetic father. I have no qualms about killing you." 

I pointed my sleek black wand at the despot. "Only one of us will die, but unlike you, I have something to live for."

Voldemort laughed, drawing the Elderwand. We began to duel, casting curses at each other left and right, but I cast a wandless curse at the exact right moment, and Voldemort began to turn to ashes. 

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" I cast with my wand, and his body flew apart like leaves in a high breeze.   
I watched my greatest enemy dissipate, and I felt vindicated, but also, hollowed out and empty. My family was avenged, and now, my brother Harry was dead. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned to face Draco Malfoy. 

I picked up the Elderwand, and said, "Voldemort is dead." 

Draco nodded, "I know, I saw. What are you going to do with the Elderwand?"

I looked down at the bumpy piece of wood, and held it out to him. "You won this by disarming Dumbledore that night on the astronomy tower," I reminded him, "Rendering it disloyal to Voldemort. He killed my father, because he believed him to be the true owner of the wand. But now that it's mine...I don't want it. I give it to you, if you want it."

Draco took it, and said humbly, "Thank you. Let's go, I'm sure the others will want to know that the war is over."

"Yes, let's go," I agreed. 

We walked back to the once beautiful castle, and I began to make the arrangements for Harry and my father's funeral. I insisted that my father be honored first in a grand funeral befitting a Headmaster of Hogwarts...

🔱-----

One Week Later...

I arranged for my father to be buried on the Prince grounds in the ancient family vault. It was a grand funeral, and lilies were placed all around my father's effigy tomb. I commissioned for a marble plaque to be created with my father's name, birth and death year, and I put the inscription underneath that said: Brave soldier, Just Headmaster of Hogwarts, Loving father and husband. We will miss and love you, always.

I cried silently, and Hermione held my hand as my father was buried. My son Gabriel cried in his usual quiet way, and when the funeral was over, he said, "Is Granddaddy happy now, daddy?"

I pulled my son on to my lap, and said, "Well, I would like to think he is with your Grandmommy and Uncle Harry. So, yes, I think he is happy now."

His black eyes shone with joy, "Oh! Well, then he's just going to sleep now?"

"Yes, Gabe, darling," Hermione added, "Your Granddaddy is simply resting in Heaven. And someday, a long time from now, we will all see each other again. Now, won't that be fun?"

"Yes, mummy, it will!" Gabriel said happily. Hermione picked up our son, and carried him in the house so that he could sleep. We both tucked our son into his bed, and kissed him goodnight...

🔱------ 

"Are you ready for the spectacle of Harry's funeral?" Hermione asked me. "I am told that he will be buried on the grounds of Hogwarts like Dumbledore was."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Let the Ministry of Magic make a martyr of Harry. You and I know that he didn't care about that pomp and glamour."

Hermione undressed and got into bed. "Yes, well, you gave your own father a grand funeral. I see this as nothing different."

I undressed, and climbed into our huge bed, and cuddled up next to my wife. "Yes, but he deserved it. I'm just glad that he is now being treated as the hero he truly was."

Hermione yawned, "I agree. Good night, Bastian.' Tomorrow is going to be a very sad day for the wizarding world."

I yawned, "I agree. Good night, love."

I turned out the lights, and I lay awake for a long time afterwards thinking about all that had happened, and about saying goodbye to my brother at long last. I loved my brother, but I knew that he was at peace, and I had to take comfort in that. I just prayed that the rest of the wizarding world understood that as they mourned the Boy Who Lived...


	29. Chapter 29

Sebastian

As I predicted, the funeral of my half brother Harry Potter--Snape, was one of the grandest funerals that the wizarding world had ever known. The Daily Prophet was all abuzz with stories splashed across the front pages the newspaper, and I was photographed and interviewed, along with Hermione, and Ginny Weasley. 

I soon learned of Miss. Weasley's pregnancy, and what was even more convincing was the fact that she had the medical documents to back up her claim. Her family was not so pleased, because she was pregnant out of wedlock, but the public didn't seem to care about that, they were delighted that Harry's bloodline would survive. 

She sat with me and Hermione in the Ministry of Magic, and they both played with Gabriel before the service began. When the casket had been brought forward, I followed the casket to give the eulogy.

"All of you know that Harry Potter was a hero of this last wizarding world," I said, after mounting the pulpit, "But I knew him as my half brother. We met at Hogwarts officially in my fourth year, and while we were not close at first, we soon grew to become close as brothers should.

"I agreed to protect him on my father's orders. I soon grew to admire my brother for his bravery, his kindness, but also for his ability to love despite all of this. I think we all should remember a boy who was truly brave and paid the ultimate price to ensure the freedom of our entire world."

I descended the pulpit, amidst cheers and applause. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic gave his own eulogy that sounded very impersonal by comparison. 

Hermione took the stage, and she said, "What I have to say will be shorter than my husband's eulogy. Harry Potter was my best friend, and was there for me when no one else was. He was the brother I never had since my parents had no other children. He saved me on numerous occasions, and there is nothing more that I could say to convey how much I loved my brother in law. I hope that you are at peace, Harry."

Hermione kissed the black coffin that contained Harry's body. She sat down next to me. Other people got up to say other things about Harry, but the one person they never expected to speak at Harry's funeral was Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy faced the crowd, and cleared his throat, "Harry and I were never friends in school. But after he was adopted by my late God father Severus Snape, we soon put aside our differences and became close friends. We truly bonded when we finished out our school years at Durmstrang, and got sorted into the same school House. I would like to say to all of you to remember that Harry _Snape_ was the one wizard, besides my Godfather and my cousin Sebastian, who truly gave a damn about me while I went to school. I will miss my cousin dearly, and I hope you all remember Harry as a wizard who truly loved life, and never wished, nor asked to be considered a hero. Thank you."

Everyone was silent as he descended the stage, and then it was decided that Harry would be buried officially on the grounds of Hogwarts where he felt the most at home...

🔱-----

Four Days Later...

I watched as yet another of my relatives was buried in a gilded tomb. I was thankful that my brother was buried separate from Albus Dumbledore, but Harry's tomb was much more ornate with carved lions everywhere all over his tomb. His inscription on the white marble had on it his full name, his birth and death years, with the words, 'Brave hero in the war against Lord Voldemort, Veteran of the Battle of Hogwarts, Loving Brother and Friend.

There were thorny roses carved everywhere on his white marble tomb with an effigy statue carved over the top of his sarcophagus. Thousands of cards, flowers, candles, and stuffed animals were placed alongside my brother's tomb as a tribute to him. I knew that Harry would hate being so hero worshipped, but I was glad that he was being given the honor he was deserved. 

I was now Headmaster of Hogwarts, and I had a duty to my family to protect them at all times; just because the war was over, it did not mean that I could relax my guard on my family and the hundreds of students under my charge. 

But in light of becoming an Uncle, I had to maintain the moral prestige of my family by getting the least two people who were less likely to be together to marry for Harry's sake: my cousin Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. I knew that there was no love lost between the Weasleys and Malfoys, but I would not tolerate my brother's child being raised out of wedlock, so I decided to act on my brother's behalf by playing matchmaker, knowing that it would be a difficult sell at the best of times. I just prayed that I could pull it off in the end...


	30. Chapter 30

Draco

"Bastian, you're out of your damn mind," Draco declared three months after the funerals. "Weaslette will never go for it. She hates me, man, and with good reason."

Sebastian sighed, draining his glass of port, and setting it aside on a nearby desk in the Malfoy library. "I know that," He said, "But she's carrying Harry's baby. Whether Harry planned to get her knocked up or not is immaterial at this point. The fact is is that you are my cousin, and a pureblood, and she is as well, despite her family's poverty."

He grumbled, "That's entirely her father's fault, every one knows that. And have you forgotten that my family wants me to marry a Greengrass?"

Sebastian shrugged, "So, what? Weasley's a little celebrity with that growing belly of hers, and you have to agree that it makes her a more attractive marriage prospect."

He laughed, "I'm not normally into gingers, nor are you. What was it you said when that Yvette chick from Beauxbatons kept stalking you that she looked 'too Freudian?' "

Sebastian laughed, "Well, she was. I didn't care for her freckles either. Plus, I was already with Hermione, so why would I become a cheater just to go after a ginger?"

The handsome blonde wizard shrugged, "Good point. But she has gotten pretty, I must admit. I'll do it for Harry's sake, I guess. But man, do you owe me big, cousin. I get more Uncle time with Gabe and your next kid, whenever that's gonna happen."

Sebastian shook his hand. "You got it. Now, I have to go convince a chick who doesn't exactly like me to agree to marry you."

He laughed, "Good luck with that. You're going to need it..."

🔱----

One Week Later...

Ginny

Ever since she received the owl invitation to Hogwarts, the ginger haired witch was understandably nervous as she found herself standing in front of the statue to the Headmaster's office. She clutched her little black purse in front of her like a shield to her growing belly. She was nearly three months along, and her belly was already the size of a basketball under her clothes. When she initially found out that Harry got her pregnant, she was overjoyed. But her parents had dressed her down for it. She angrily pointed out that it wasn't her damned fault that Harry was dead before finding out he was going to be a father, and that they probably would have married any way over time.

It wasn't a good enough excuse for her mother, and so she was ostracized from her family as a result. All because she had sex with the wizard of her dreams, and birth control was the least thing on their minds that night. But it didn't matter, the Ministry of Magic made her exceedingly rich, and she lived quite comfortably in London. The only thing that was missing was Harry himself. If she could have had Harry in her life raising their baby with her, her life would be perfect; so it was puzzling why Harry's intense older half brother wanted to see her.

Sure, he was Hermione's husband, and model handsome, but gosh, was he ever strange like Professor Snape! They even spoke and acted in a similar way, which was creepy to say the least. 

"Lilyrose," She said to the stone gargoyle that guarded the way to the office. It moved, and the spiral staircase moved upwards towards the door. She mounted the steps, and knocked on the gothic door. 

"Enter," Sebastian's voice said.

She turned the knob, and Sebastian was dressed in an all black tailored muggle suit, his black, shoulder length hair, framing his handsome face like always.

He was talking with his father's portrait, and Professor Snape said, "Ah. Miss. Weasley is it?"

"Y-Yes, sir," She answered, feeling absurdly nervous. "You wanted to see me, Sebastian?"

Professor Snape humphed, "I cannot see why my son would choose someone so...timid. But to each their own as the muggles say. Good evening, Miss. Weasley."

Sebastian chuckled, "He was saying that you need not be nervous around a ghost, Ginny. Please, sit. I would not keep a pregnant lady on her feet without just cause, naturally."

She sat, and he sat at what used to be Dumbledore's desk. He looked oddly proper? Right? She had no words, only that he seemed to have taken on the role of Headmaster of Hogwarts with relative ease. 

He folded his fingers in a steeple, and said, "Let's get right down to it, shall we?"

_Here it comes, he's going to make you abort this baby_ , she thought at first. Sebastian eyed her closely, his intense black eyes watching her every move. She honestly didn't understand how Hermione could be with someone as intense as this, but they do say that love is blind. 

"What do you want?"  
Sebastian grinned wolfishly, "Me? Why, nothing, Ginny. But I have a proposition to put to you. Since Harry is not alive to raise this product of your love with you, I would suggest that you marry my cousin Draco Malfoy."

Ginny felt like fainting. Was he for real?? A Malfoy?? One look in his eyes told her that he was being dead serious. "But...he--h-his family h-hates mine, and...and...well, he's a bullying jerk! I can't believe that my parents, or his would ever agree to such a crazy ass match."

Sebastian drummed his fingers on the desk lightly. "And yet the flush in your cheeks, and the way your pulse just sped up would indicate you at least find him attractive."

"He's attractive," She pointed out, "But then again, so are you."

Sebastian laughed, "I'm flattered. I, however, am not available, Miss. Weasley. But I assure you that Draco is. You two come from pure stock. It will be socially acceptable for you two to marry, and it will create prestige for both his family and yours."

Ginny leaned forward and asked, "Okay, what's the catch? You're a Slytherin, there is always some catch when dealing with witches and wizards of your school House."

"I want my niece or nephew raised in a married household," Sebastian explained, "I know you live comfortably, because of the Ministry, but you will soon have your pick of wizards to choose from to raise my brother's child. Draco is my closest relative, due to him being my father's God son. 

"Now, you can, of course, leave and eventually be shunned by wizarding society by not marrying. Or, you can get married, and your child will have a father from a proper magical lineage. If you and Draco choose to have more children after that, it's entirely your choice as a couple. But I will not tolerate my brother's child being raised in a single family home. Is that understood, Ginny?"

Ginny leaned back in her chair, stunned by his sternness. She hated herself for doing this, but maybe, just maybe, it would be something Harry would want her to do. 

She teared up, "Okay, alright, I...I agree to this match. But if he mistreats me, I'm putting the blame entirely on you."

Sebastian smiled, relaxing visibly, "I highly doubt that Draco will mistreat you, Ginny. He's a good kid, my cousin. At the very least, he's not Dean Thomas."

Ginny paled at that, "Did Harry tell you about that?"

Sebastian nodded, "It's alright. I know you loved Harry. I'm a legilimens like my father, remember? No wizard will be able to replace him, but Draco will be good to you, I just know it."

Ginny stood on shaky legs, and he helped her stand up. Then, he shocked her by hugging her. "Welcome to the family, Ginny. We will be in touch, I promise you."

She went back to her posh London flat, and did her usual puking and peeing every five minutes. She went to bed that night after dinner feeling unsure that she was doing the right thing. But she hoped beyond hope that she was, in fact, actually doing the right thing, for Harry's sake, and for their child as a whole. But of course, only time would tell in the end...


	31. Chapter 31

Hermione

One Month Later...

"Mione,' I feel like such a fat pig wearing this!" Ginny complained for the umpteenth time while she was getting ready for her own wedding. "Are you sure people aren't going to think I'm like a big walking cow in my dress??"

I smoothed down my still flat stomach. I had missed my second period in a row, and took the wizarding test, and the muggle one just to be sure it wasn't stress: sure enough, I was indeed, pregnant for the second time. I knew that Sebastian and I had been trying for another baby for some time, but when I found out that I was, the news still surprised me.

"Ginny, you look great," I reassured her yet again. "Honestly, no one is going to look at your baby bump. They will see a radiant bride, and think you are just as pretty as any other bride that walked down the aisle."

Ginny adjusted her veil in place, and sighed, "At least when you got married here, you weren't pregnant. And you loved the wizard you were marrying. Me? Draco has been nice, but I really, _really_ wish that I was marrying Harry today." 

I hugged her, and said, "I know, Gin. I know. We all miss Harry. But he wouldn't want you to raise your baby alone. Draco may not have been your choice of husband, but he was close to Harry, and has many fond memories of him. I think in time you will grow to love him."

Ginny teared up, and she dabbed at her eyes delicately with a handkerchief. "I hope so. Well, let's go and get me married."

I handed her her pink and violet rose bouquet, and we walked arm in arm down the grand staircase of Malfoy Manor, and the ushers opened the doors for us. Lucius Malfoy stood just outside, and he took my place beside Ginny...

🔱------

He was dressed perfectly as always, but he looked old and careworn by the war, and his brief stint in Azkaban. I followed behind them as the Matron of Honor, and I spotted my handsome husband standing beside Draco as his Best Man. 

He winked at me, and I blushed, winking shyly back. Ginny and Draco both looked nervous, because they barely knew one another, and it was their first time getting married, after all. I remembered my own wedding. I had been nervous, of course, but I had no doubt that Sebastian loved me. 

I watched the ceremony with fondness, and watched as one of my best friends got married. I looked over at my husband, and he was mouthing the vows of wedding me all over again, and I mouthed them back. 

'I love you,' I finished, mouthing to him. 

'I love you too,' He mouthed back, smiling and beaming with happiness. The rings were exchanged, and then the kiss was so sweet and tender it made me tear up. 

I could see that it broke Ginny's heart somewhat that none of her huge family decided that it was important enough for them to come to her wedding, but the Malfoys and the other pureblood family's they invited to the wedding were delighted by this turn of events, at least on the surface. The only pureblood family that didn't attend, of course, were the Greengrasses, and that was only because Draco had jilted one of their twin girls to marry a Weasley. 

Gabriel decided to run to his Uncle, and Draco laughed, picking up my son so that he would be included with the wedding pictures, which turned out to be very cute, because Draco made silly faces at my son, while Gabriel laughed. 

Then the Daily Prophet photographers took pictures of me and Sebastian, some of them they wanted us kissing, and others where either my husband, or myself was holding our son. Gabriel, of course, was having the time of his little life, being photographed and being thought of as 'cute,' by the society journalists. Then they photographed the bride and groom, and then Draco and his parents...

🔱-----

When the interviews and other media circus was over with, it was time for the reception, and being that Narcissa Malfoy never did anything by half measures, it was an elegant affair with a lot of food and dancing. 

Sebastian twirled me during one of the waltzes, and he said, "You seem preoccupied tonight, Min. Care to share?"

I sighed, "I can't tell you here. Can we wait until Ginny and Draco leave for Cornwall after the reception?"

He kissed my hand, "Of course. I can tell it's something big, though."

I chuckled, and nodded, "It is, but I would rather be alone when I tell you. No guests, no kids. Just us."

He dipped me, and brought me back up quickly. "I'll hold you to that you know," He said with feigned seriousness. 

I kissed him lightly, "You'll know soon enough, and when you do, you'll be happy that I waited to tell you."

"Okay, I'll wait."  
"Thank you."

The waltz ended, and we replaced dance partners four times in a row before the bouquet toss, which Pansy Parkinson caught. She winked at Blaise Zambini, and he blushed. Soon enough, the evening was finished off with a great fireworks display, and Sebastian and I found a spot with our son. 

"Daddy, Mummy, pretty colors!" He said happily, laughing. He was clapping his little hands. 

I kissed his head, and said, "And do you know how they're made, dear?"

"Chemical compounds like gun powder," Gabriel said. "Boom! Boom! Booom!"

Sebastian laughed, "Yes, exactly, son. In magic, though, we conjure them from wands. Like this. _Amortia_!" 

He cast with his wand, and two red hearts appeared in the night sky, and he drew my initials intertwined with his. 

"Put my name, daddy, please?!" Gabriel asked. He did, and the letter G linked at the bottom of the H and S already linked together. We hugged our son, and after a while, he fell asleep watching the colorful fireworks. Sebastian picked up our son, and we carried him back up to the mansion, and tucked him into bed....

🔱------

Draco and Ginny soon left in their sleek black limousine, because she was too far along in her pregnancy to be able to apparate. 

I hugged them both, and Ginny said, tearing up happily,"Thank you, Hermione, for being at my wedding. You're like the sister I never had, I mean that."

I kissed her cheek, and said, "Like? Hell, you are my sister now, girl, what are you saying?" I leaned in and whispered, "Just so you know, you technically can still get it on up to six months in a healthy pregnancy. So, you go get some."

She blushed, laughing, "I'll definitely remember that."

"Good," I whispered, "Because you will get crazy horny during that time, and it's totally normal, just be aware."

Sebastian was saying some things to Draco, and then he hugged me. "You're not giving my wife crazy tips are you?"

"Who me? Never," I laughed, and then added more seriously, "Just that, you better treat her right. Her whole family hates her for what she did with Harry."

Draco nodded, and promised, "I will, you have my word. Love you, cos."

I hugged him, and kissed his cheek, "You too, Draco. You too. I didn't think that I would ever say that to you, but you're a good wizard, Draco. Now, go, have fun on your honeymoon."

The bride and groom got into the limo, and it left the grounds like a dark shadow. After making our polite social calls to our guests, we were finally left alone...

🔱------

I ran a bath in the guest tub, and Sebastian and I washed each other before laying back, enjoying the hot water, and being snuggled up in each other's arms. 

Sebastian had his arms wrapped around my waist and he asked softly, "Can you tell me now what burning secret you have to tell me?"

I turned to face him, and took a deep breath before I said, "I just found out last month that I too, am pregnant."

Sebastian's eyes went wide with surprise, and then he began to cry happy tears. "Oh, my love. You...you really are certain?"

I nodded, crying happy tears in turn. He crushed me to him, and kissed me tenderly. "You're right, for waiting you know. I would have just treated you like fine porcelain if I knew you were pregnant during the preparations. When do you think it happened?"

I shrugged, "Does it really matter? We have been trying, and now we know for sure that Gabriel will have a new sister or brother. Is that not a happy enough valentine's gift for you?"

Sebastian laughed, "Yes, I think us having another child tops any flowers or chocolates I could give you."

I beamed with happiness, and straddled him. "Good. Because like last time, just because I'm going to be the size of a whale in the next few months, it does not mean you can slack off in your man duties."

Sebastian's eyes began to smolder with desire and love for me, as he ran his hands up and down my waist, and cupped my breasts with his slightly callused hands. 

"Mmm, Heaven forbid I ever neglect what is mine to begin with," He whispered, skillfully suckling my left breast. I began to stroke him, and he moaned in response. He suckled my other breast, and I slid his cock inside of me. We began to kiss passionately, our tongues fighting for dominance as I rode him up and down in the tub. We were getting water on the floor, but we didn't care. 

"Bastian'..." I cried, as I found my release, my whole body shuddering as I threw my head back, coming undone against my husband. 

"Hermione..." Sebastian whispered, filling me with his release, and nipping my neck in response to his body shuddering with the force of his orgasm. We clung to each other, not wanting to let go of each other in the heat of the moment. Afterwards, we simply stared into each other's eyes, kissing lazily.

We said nothing more, because we didn't need to, words no longer mattered between us. Every caress, touch of our lips on skin, eyes on one another was a way of saying 'I love you,' without words. 

We rinsed off, and got ready for bed. I lay against his chest, and slid his cock inside of me, simply as another way to snuggle, and in the darkness of our guest bedroom, we soon fell asleep. All felt right in the world, and besides the usual problems of life, we no longer had a war to fight, and peace would reign ever after. At least, until school would begin once again for us all...


	32. Chapter 32

Hermione

Twenty Years Later...

  
Gabriel, Jane, Viktor, and his twin sister Lily, all was abuzz with excitement to be going off to Hogwarts. I admit that I would be as well, despite a year ago, knowing that my former Head of House Minerva McGonagoll died. She died peacefully in her bed, and she had a black and white framed photograph of a young Albus Dumbledore on her nightstand with her. I certainly had a feeling that her story was a sad one of unrequited love, but she never ceased in her love for her boss, and I respected that about Professor McGonagoll among other things.

Draco and Ginny approached me with their kids Rose, Scorpius, and Luna. Rose was Harry's daughter, and therefore, the oldest, like my son Gabriel. Luna was to be a first year this year, alongside Viktor and Lily. My other children, like Draco's, were going to be coming back to Hogwarts for their fourth years.

I contemplated so many times of going back to Hogwarts after McGonagoll had sent me an owl saying that she wished for me to replace her as the transfiguration teacher, and Head of Gryffindor House. I certainly had the training under my belt, but it felt so wrong replacing such a staple at the school I grew up at, and spent many of my formative years at. I had some of worst heartaches there, but it was also the place I met and fell in love with my husband.

In the end, I decided on taking my former Head of House's offer, not to be an overprotective mother, and keep a tight leash on my kids. No, what made me decide to do it was her utter faith in me, and I always trusted in Professor McGonagoll's judgment. I deeply admired and respected her, and if she had faith that I could succeed her, then who was I to turn her down?

We all walked on to platform 9 3/4, and Lily looked a little shy of the Hogwarts Express. "Mom?" She asked. "What if I'm not put in Slytherin along with Jane and Gabe?"

I turned to face my youngest daughter, and hugged her. Her and her brother Viktor were the only ones of my kids who inherited my hair color, strangely enough.

"Oh, sweetheart, your father and I will never, _ever_ think less of you if you aren't placed in Slytherin House," I reassured her. "The sorting hat almost placed me in Ravenclaw, instead of Gryffindor, so it does take your preference into consideration before deciding."

Her amber eyes lit up with hope. "Really? I always thought you were in dad's House."

I laughed, "Oh, goodness me, no. I shared school Houses with your Uncle Harry, not your father. In fact, it proved quite a challenge when we were courting to date outside our Houses like we did. But just so you know, if you date outside your school House, I will be the first one to cheer you on."

Lily laughed, "Really?"

"Yes, really. Are you ready to go?"  
Lily nodded, "Yes. I think I am."  
"Good."

We all boarded the train together and Gabriel and Jane sat with their fellow Slytherins in the back of the train. Viktor sat with the Gryffindors towards the front, and Lily did as well, but that was because, like most twins, they were tied at the hip.

When the train stopped in Hogsmeade village, I said goodbye to my twins, and went in one of the thestral drawn carriages up to the castle. I was dressed in a sharp, tailored designer black suit, and even though it was unusual for a witch of my stature to dress in fashionable muggle clothes, I just prefer muggle office clothing to robes all the time. My stiletto heels clicked along the familiar stone corridors as I made my way to the top of the stairs where I had to await the first years.

They soon arrived, and I gave the welcoming speech: "Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor Prince. Now, before you pass through these doors," I indicated the golden double doors to the Great Hall behind me, "It is important for you to learn of the school Houses. They are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

"Now, your House will become your family whilst you attend classes here during your seven years. Any achievements you earn for your school House will be awarded in points for your entire House. Likewise, any rule breaking will result in the loss of those points, depending on the severity of your punishment. The school House who receives the most House points will win the House Cup, so it is your best interest to obey the rules of the school, and your teachers. Any questions?"

I answered some questions, but one of the most obvious ones was if I had gone to school here.

I nodded, "I did, once upon a time. I was sorted into Gryffindor House."

A Hufflepuff prefect came out, and whispered that they were ready for us. Some of the students were chatting away, and I cleared my throat loudly, "They are ready for us now. Follow me, please.."

I led the procession, and of course, some of the lewder boys stared at my legs as I passed. But as I walked closer to the teacher's table, I noticed Sebastian decided to wear his black robes, and appear just as intimidating as Professor Snape did once upon a time. He passed me a subtle wink, and I winked back. Even after over twenty years of marriage, we still acted like newlyweds at times.

I got the roster of names, and faced the crowd. "Now, when I call your name, you will come up to the stage, sit on the stool here, and I will place the sorting hat on your head. The hat will determine which school House you will be placed in. Lily Prince."

My daughter nervously sat on the stool, and I whispered to her, "Remember what I said earlier? It will all be alright, dear."

She smiled up at me, and whispered, "Okay, mom. I'm ready now."

I placed the hat on my daughter's head, and it ruminated for a bit before placing her in Gryffindor. I smiled, and clapped. She skipped to the Gryffindor table, and Viktor's name was called up. The hat placed Viktor in Ravenclaw. My two eldest children were Slytherins, while my twins were a Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively. All in all, it wasn't bad.

The sorting continued until all of the first years were sorted into their proper school Houses.

I sat next to Sebastian, and he said to me at dinner, "Did you suspect that Lily would make Gryffindor?"

I shrugged, "If it was going to be any of our children, I think she would be the most likely. You know how she likes to do crazy things. At least she will be with Rose, Harry's girl, so she will at least know someone already."

Sebastian sighed, "Yes, well, I think after this feast we should use the prefect bathroom, just the two of us. I have been dying to try it out with you."

I giggled, "Are you trying for another kid?"

Sebastian chuckled, shrugging, "With us? You never know. Please say you will do it."

I smiled, blushing, "You know I can't resist that damned Snape charm of yours."

"Don't tell me you thought of my dad like that," He said, shocked.

"Oh my God, Bastian, I was thirteen!" I playfully socked his arm. "Besides, I have you, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Damn straight, baby," He flirted. "That you always will."

After the welcome feast, Sebastian and I sneaked away to the prefect bathroom where we bathed, relaxed, and made love.

When we were done, we got ready for bed and relaxed in each other's arms. I soon fell asleep, but not before kissing my husband goodnight...

🔱------

Sebastian

Bonds. The bonds of life and love are what hold us fast to this Earth, and all we hold most dear to our hearts. As I held my beloved in my arms, I realized how much I was bound to my wife. 

I could have lost her, my children, Draco, Ginny, my Aunt and Uncle in this last wizarding war so many times. I had already lost my parents, my sister Rose, and my brother Harry. But with my wife Hermione, I found a new hope in her, and with our children. First in Gabriel, then Jane, and more recently, with Viktor and Lily. Four children, all from a union between two rival school Houses. 

Some would have said such a union was impossible, or even foolish, but to not to those who have been bound in the ancient ties of love and family as me and my wife are, and have always been. For those whom such bonds are intertwined as deeply as ours, let no man, but the powers that be sever them from each other...

The End


End file.
